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LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


PRINCETON, N. J. 


PURCHASED BY THE 
Mrs. ROBERT LENOX KENNEDY CHURCH HISTORY FUND. 


Division... 2. | 


Sechoneen an 








Historic Churches of the World 





mtr 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/historicchurchesOOludy 





CHRIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. (See page 249) 





“YW 
SEP 24 1926 
% : 

£0) 


! ay 4 
ICAL Sey 


Historic Churches 
of the World 


BY 
ROBERT BY DUDE MaD. 
Acting-Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A., Spanish-American War 
Former Lecturer on Practice of Medicine in Temple University 
of Philadelphia; Member of Historical Society of Pennsylvania 
Author of 


Answers to Questions Prescribed by Medical, Dental and 
Pharmaceutical State Boards, Etc. 


1926 
THE STRATFORD COMPANY 
Publishers 


BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 


Copyright, 1926 
The STRATFORD OO., Publishers 
Boston, Mass. 


Printed in the United States of America 


THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL 


One Holy Church of God appears 
Through every age and race, 

Unwasted by the lapse of years, 
Unchanged by changing place. 


From oldest time, on farthest shores, 
Beneath the pine or palm, 

One unseen Presence she adores, 
With silence or with psalm, 


Her priests are all God’s faithful sons, 
To serve the world raised up; 

The pure in heart her baptized ones; 
Love her communion cup. 


The Truth is her prophetic gift, 
The soul her sacred page; 

And feet on mercy’s errands swift 
Do make her pilgrimage. 


O Living Church, thine errand speed; 
Fulfill thy task sublime; 

With bread of life earth’s hunger feed; 
Redeem the present time! 


—Samuel Longfellow 





INTRODUCTION 


The future safety of the world will depend in a large 
measure upon the religious training of the people who 
inhabit every quarter of the globe. If we ever attain 
everlasting peace—and this is not the most difficult 
problem which confronts all of us,—the greatest credit 
will belong to religion in some form. 

The outward landmarks of all the religions of the 
world today are the Cathedrals, Churches, Missions, 
Meeting Houses, Synagogues, Tabernacles and other 
places of worship which one has in his own locality and 
which the world-tourist finds in his travels. 

Wherever one goes, he will find a place of worship. 
True, one will also find public buildings, libraries, art 
galleries with priceless treasures; museums with won- 
derful collections, and thousands of structures of every 
description, all worthy of visit and study. Yet in and 
around these notable structures, one will find the 
Cathedral, or the Church, or the little Mission—many 
of them possibly empty for the moment, but all hold- 
ing a mighty influence over the people in their own 
localities. “To this date, with science and invention 
making their greatest strides and accomplishing the 
most wonderful and almost impossible achievements, 
no one has ever been able to measure the vast amount 
of good which has been accomplished through religion. 

We hear almost daily in our contacts with business 
and professional men that religion does not seem to 
have the same grip upon mankind that it had one, two, 
or more generations ago. ‘The writer has heard this 
expression of thought many times and in many coun- 


v 


INTRODUCTION 


tries. He does not believe the statement. As a close 
student of human nature, and from his observations 
made in every part of the world, he is fully convinced 
that religion is stronger today than ever. 

This book is not a treatise on religion. Neither is it 
offered at this time, when the United States of America 
is observing its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of 
independence, as an effort to strengthen religion in 
any way. 

It is presented, however, in response to a growing 
demand from all sections which is conclusively demon- 
strating that the people of every class are becoming 
more religious day by day. In consequence, there has 
been a decided reawakening of interest in the history 
of the many places of worship throughout the world. 
The short-distance motor tourist has shown an increas- 
ing tendency to visit the Cathedrals, Churches and 
Missions which he passes in his journeyings. The 
traveler to distant points, whether in this country or 
abroad, has generally been interested in visiting notable 
places of worship. In fact, no traveler felt that he had 
seen everything of value unless he had visited the 
famous Cathedrals and Churches. 

‘This interest exists today in a greater degree, for the 
reason that methods of travel and transportation are 
vastly superior to the traveling conveniences of yester- 
day. While the number of travelers is many times in- 
creased, there has been felt among all classes a keen de- 
sire for handy works of reference briefly describing the 
important and notable places of worship, not only in 
the United States, but throughout the world. 

In a great measure, it was this growing demand 
which prompted the writer to compile the numerous 


vi 


TNIERO DUC ELON 


interesting facts contained in this volume. As a result 
of many years of travel in all the countries mentioned, 
he was asked by many of his acquaintances to bring to- 
gether in one handy volume some of the noteworthy 
facts relating to the old and modern places of worship 
which he has visited. 

This work is not designed as a history. If it satis- 
fies some of your demands for information regarding 
many places of worship, the writer will feel much re- 
warded for his efforts. If it should create in anyone’s 
mind a greater desire to help carry on the work for 
which the Cathedral, the Church, or any other place of 
worship is the outward symbol, then he will feel 
doubly gratified and repaid for the hours spent in pre- 
paring this work. 

To many of my friends and acquaintances, I am 
deeply indebted for their valued help in compiling this 
work. Many of the historical facts have been taken 
from standard works of reference. “The writer desires 
to take this opportunity to convey his sincerest thanks 
for the valued and much appreciated assistance most 
generously given him by Miss Helen M. Lehman, of 
Belleville, New Jersey; Mr. William W. Matos, the 
Rev. Geo. W. Swope, D. D., and Mr. John Curtis, of 
Philadelphia, and also to the officials of the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania, whose many courtesies will 
never be forgotten. 

ROBERT B. Luby, M.D. 
Atlantic City 
March 1, 1926 


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FOREWORD 


The altar, a sacred place of worship, was the primi- 
tive form of church. Out in the open, and usually 
on the tops of hills or elevated spots, these places of 
worship were fittingly known as ‘“‘High Places.”’ It 
was customary to erect an altar where some new revela- 
tion from Heaven had been received and to set up me- 
morial stones marking it as the site of an event of 
peculiar interest. 

With God’s fuller revelation of Himself, came, first 
the tabernacle, a ‘“Tent of Meeting,’’ set up in the 
midst of the camp at every resting place; and later the 
temple, constructed on the same plan as the taber- 
nacle, but of more durable and costly materials, more 
ornate and elaborate in appearance. Accessories were 
grander and the effect much more imposing. Exten- 
sive ceremonial worship in magnificent structures took 
the place of simple votive offerings at primitive shrines. 

Not different is the story of the chapel and the cathe- 
dral, the more modern form of church. With the mag- 
nificent temple in ruins, persecuted worshippers knelt 
in worship, not at rustic altars in the open, but at 
candlelit shrines of underground chapels within the 
catacombs, with guards at their secret entrances. On 
the sites of these chapels and on others sacred to the 
martyrdom of early Christians, sprang up medieval 
cathedrals. Altar, tabernacle, temple, chapel, cathe- 
dral, synagogue, church, were each a vitally significant 


1x 


FOREWORD 


episode in the story of the living church, and her wor- 
ship of . 


The Unseen Presence she adores 
With silence or with psalm. 


As the primitive chapels were the forerunners of the 
church and its attendant civilization in the Old World, 
so were humble missions the forerunners of the 
church and its beneficent influences in the New. Ad- 
venturers sought to win new dominions for their 
sovereigns, and to extend their religion. “The accom- 
plishment of the latter made possible the former. 
Ahead of the armed soldier went the cowled monk, 
and the pious, praying, self-renunciating priest. About 
his humble mission grew up the cathedral, in the New 
World as in the Old. Later came the Colonial ‘““‘Church- 
in-the-Fort’’ and meeting house, about which grew up 
big cities. Again, in the newness of the New World, 
the primitive altar was erected, this time the cell and 
cloister of the Franciscan Padre, whose “‘feet on mer- 
cy’s errands swift’’ made tireless pilgrimage; and Ply- 
mouth Rock still stands sacred to the Pilgrim Fathers— 
their ‘‘faith’s pure shrine.”’ 

And so it is that, whether in the Old World or in 
the New—Old Mexico, New Mexico, New England, 
or elsewhere; in countries old enough to claim the 
romance of a past — everywhere there are historic 
churches, cherished monuments of the past, final evi- 
dence of the abiding presence and ultimate triumph of 
the Church Universal, which ever constant appears 

Through every age and race, 


Unwasted by the lapse of years, 
Unchanged by changing place. 


CONTENTS 
(Part I) 


INTRODUCTION . 

FOREWORD : 

OLD WORLD CHURCHES 
Pre-Christian Temples and Shrines 
Early Christian or Basilican Churches . 
Mosques, Temples of Mahomet 
Medieval Cathedrals 


(Partly 
NEW WORLD CHURCHES 


Early Missions, Cathedrals, and Churches . 


Colonial Churches: 
New England . 
Middle States . 
Southern States 


Modern Cathedrals, Chapels, and Churches . 
SATS 
i552. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY . 
INDEX 


PAGE 


159 


EL oy, 
26 
LOL 


299 





Illustrations 


Opposite Page 
Alamo, Texas . HAS CU ea nanan ed pat ees td ; . 166 
Amiens Cathedral, France . ; ; Penner. al LO 
Augustus Lutheran Church, Trappe, Pa, ney « : wELOG 
Brick Reformed Church, North Carolina . . .. . 294 
Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, Va. . : , LOO 
Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, England, Exterior and 
Interior Views.  . SN URE Remar, MU SR 


Cathedral of the Assumption, Ma Meets e aC Sane Ee 
Satnedcalt HOLY) TIMit yp COUCDEC hte rol She cette OF 


MeAENCU alse VICKICO.CILY cman e ie toa oe ade Wai livaii en Vet, LOS 
athedralsViexicO;@ity winteriorm wah Goma il als beuieee LOO 
Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily MASAO SURERRCLNRE cane Vit) cabs) wena SA) 
Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily, Interior ; : : en sy 
Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico . .  . 178 
Cathedral of Rouen, France .. : , < a he 4 
Cathedral of St. Andrew, Wells, Paslead ; ; , sug bez? 


ancoralor Ot.uOnn atetann OMe wan sh tisha | ee 2G 
Chartres Cathedral, France . : eV ae Meet crude 6 ianech £ OO 
GheistiGburch, Alexandria; Va... ; 4 Fe Beane POM eag a Fa 
Christ Church, Philadelphia . . .  . Frontispiece, 248 
Christ Church, Philadelphia, Interior . ; ; , MEW 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem . . . . 26 
Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Ae ; : ene oe 


Clock in Strassburg Cathedral Pine eu LZ 
Collegiate Church (Dutch Reformed) New York City STALLS) 
Mologne Gathedraly i's.) 4. neat OLPORRBINM AGN INV SAE KOA 
Columbus Cathedral, Havana, Cuba Chis MA Scone aa Pa OZ, 


Donegal Reformed Church, Milton Grove, Pa. . . . 282 
meetin atiedrane ene landnenmh. hil. it vantke we Mas) When 90 


Xili 


TEE Sb RAR LONS 


Opposite Page 
Ely Cathedral, England . Heels 
Exeter Cathedral, England SLO 
First Baptist Church, Providence, R. Hi . 206 
First Church, Boston : . 200 
First Church of Christ, arene Boe . 304 
First Huguenot Church, New York City Stars 
First (Tabor) Reformed Church of Lebanon, Pa. : 282 
Friends’ Meeting House, Merion, Pa. . 246 
Friends’ Meeting House, Philadelphia ; . 274 
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church, Philadelphia . 242 
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church, Philadelphia, Interior . 244 
Gloucester Cathedral, England 90 
Golden Pagoda, Rangoon 10 
Grand Mosque of Damascus, yee . 44 
John Street Methodist Church, New York ee 22230 
King’s Chapel, Boston Te202 
Leaning Tower and Cathedral of Bae itz 
Lincoln Cathedral, England . 92 
Lincoln Cathedral, England, Interior » 94 
“Little Church Around the Corner,’’ New York City 226 
Martin Luther’s Church, Wittenberg » eG 
Meeting House-on-the-Green, Lexington, Mass. . A PANES 
Milan Cathedral, Italy Rai se Gi 
Mission of Concepcion, San Antonio, Texas . 164 
Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pa. 200 
Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah ‘200 
Mosque of Cordova, Spain 40 
Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem 38 
Mosque of the Sultan Hassan, Cairo Bin ee 
Notre Dame, Antwerp . 144 
Notre Dame, Paris 2 
Notre Dame, Paris Interior . 74 
Old Dutch Church, Tarrytown, N. vain “246 


Xiv 


IPCUS:DRACLLONS 


Old North Church, Boston : 
“Old Ship’’ Church, Hingham, Mass. . 
Old South Church, Boston 

Old South Church, Newburyport, Nees 
Old Swedes’ Church, Wilmington, Del. 
Old Tennent Church, Monmouth Battlefield, N. Ay 
Peterborough Cathedral, England . 

Pantheon, Rome 

Parthenon, Athens . 

Rheims Cathedral, France : ; : : 
Ruins, First Protestant Church in Aeris Jamestown, Va. 
Russian Orthodox Church, Sitka, Alaska 

Salisbury Cathedral, England 

San Domingo Cathedral, San Domingo 

San Gabriel Campanile, or Bell Tower, California 

San Gabriel Mission, California 

San Juan Capistrano Mission, California 

Santa Barbara Mission, California 

Santa Croce, Florence, Italy 

Santa Maria Della Salute, Venice . 

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome . 

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, Interior . 

Santa Maria Novello, Florence 

St. Albans, England . : 

St. Albans, England, Interior . 

St. Anne de Beaupre, Quebec . 

St. David’s Church, Radnor, Pa. 

St. David’s Church, Radnor, Pa., Interior 

St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, England 

St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia 
St. Gervais, Geneva, Switzerland . ‘ ; : 

St. Isaac’s Cathedral, Leningrad 

St. John’s Church, Portsmouth, N. H. 


xV 


Opposite Page 

EVA G RA 
. 198 
. 196 
ph MY? 
er ABT 
. 234 
Se LZO 


18 
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186 


Pola) 


70 


. 162 
sie 
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ses 


88 
20 
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56 


Ss eLleber 
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. 284 
Pe A) 
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. 140 
. 208 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Opposite Page 


St: Joseph's, ot; Augustine, Florida evi. yee 
St) Louis; Cathedral, New Orleans2a7 aie 2 se ee 
Sti Duke's; Smithfield, Vas wun vais tts ee ee 
St. Mark’s, Venice . ; ‘ i : : : : eneo.O 
St. Mark’s, Venice, Interior . oy (hae HE rN ae 
St. Michael’s Church, Charleston, S. C. Sas Ae Poe J: 
St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia Bea Ais 
St. Patrick's Gathedral), New (York: Gitya< win ee 
St. Paul’s Church, New York City be SA eS me 
St. Paul’s Church, Norfolk, Va. . Mer NAS MS et Aa) 
St.:Paulissivondonwienas o Tihs i. 6 Arne mE O) 
St. Peter’s Church, Albany, N. y. hy Wests Wile ahh? CRE RE 
St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia . ‘ : ; ; SLO 
St: Petet'saRiome) i saan aaie Riana se Meme ML AN ECE 
St. Peter’s, Rome, Interior 2 eR GRR a Set URRY 8 by tvs 
St. Pierre, Geneva, Switzerland, Interior . : ; . 100 
St; Sophia; Constantinople) avon 0 ve) 2 ee 
Swamp Church, New Hanover,:Pas 9) .) 72. ee it 
Vellis' Chapel, (ake Lucerne, Switzerlandi) 2) ee ae 
‘Lempie of Diana, Ephesusimieen aie vies 2 ES 
Temple of Bdfastiey pte (gears Wane ee 6 
Temple of Nikko, Japan gh SE MS cee Oley at a ie aa 
iLoledo ‘@athedral)Spainurin. wee ene OEE a 
Trinity,Church, Bostony si) Wa eye ct) 
rinity: Church) New) York City/ien ees see Bp ArAD 
Westminster Abbey, London, West Front . . . . 58 


Westminster Abbey, London, Nave .. .\ .) tepeaeoo 
Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England. . . . 114 
Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England, Interior. . 116 


World’s*Smallest: Church, Kentucky 9/29) 50s ee ee 
York Minster England orn 0009 3, 0) 0) Wace) 
York Minster, England, Interior .. ety bi se 


Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia in eae 


Xvi 


PART I 


OLD WORLD CHURCHES 


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PRE-CHRISTIAN TEMPLES AND 
SHRINES 


The thoughtful observer of historic churches sees in 
Oriental temples and shrines, even though of pre-Chris- 
tian origin, a deep significance and much beauty. To 
those who knelt in their inner sanctuaries they repre- 
sented the ideal of human worship and Divine beauty, 
even as do our churches to us today. For this the 
world, in its ‘discovery of God,” is deeply indebted. 
In the triumphant onward march of the Church Uni- 
versal they, too, have played their part, recognition 
and appreciation of which Lowell thus fittingly ex- 
presses in his familiar lines on “The Church”’: 


I love the rites of English Church, 
I love to hear and see 

The priest and people reading slow, 
The solemn Litany. 


But when I hear the creed that saith, 
This Church alone is His, 

I feel within my soul that He 

Has purer shrines than this, 


For His is not the builded Church 
Nor organ-shaken dome, 

In everything that lovely is, 

God lives and has His home. 


[3] 


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LEVIPE ET ORT EIDE. 


EGYPT, 


In Egypt, land of Time’s most ancient monuments, 
some fifty miles southeast of Thebes, stands Edfu, 
“perfect Temple of Worship.’ It is about two thou- 
sand years old, but still is one of the best preserved 
monuments of its day. It was begun two centuries be- 
fore Christ by Ptolemy III, completed in 57 B.C. and 
dedicated to Horus, son of Isis and Osiris and symbol 
of the sun. Entering the doorway guarded by a small 
sphinx, and proceeding through long vistas of immense 
pillars, the inner hall, or ‘‘Divine House,” of the Tem- 
ple is reached. In this far off sanctuary, entered only 
by the priests, whose cells surround it, is the inmost 
chamber with black roof and altar of granite, and a 
polished granite shrine sacred to the god Horus. The 
massive Temple was built to house this shrine. 

Previous to 1860 the Temple had been in ruins and 
nomad Arabs had built shabby lean-to sheds against 
its walls, but Mariette in that year restored it to its 
former austere beauty and massive grandeur. 

Hichens thus gratefully expresses his admiration of 
this Temple of Worship: 


‘“There is one Temple on the Nile which seems to em- 
brace in its arms all the worship of the past; to be full 
of prayers and solemn praises; to be the holder, the 
noble keeper of the sacred longings of the unearthly 
desires and aspirations of the dead. It is the Temple 
of Edfu. From the other Temples it stands apart. It 
is the Temple of the inward flame, of the secret soul 
of man; of that mystery within us that is exquisitely 
sensitive and exquisitely alive; that has longings it 


[5] 


AUS TO RUC ae Bi ake ree 


cannot tell and sorrows it dare not whisper. Edfu is 
the Temple of the ‘Hidden One.’ Pure and perfect 
in its design—broad propylon, great open courtyard 
with pillared galleries, halls, chambers, sanctuary. Its 
dignity and sobriety are matchless. It is not pagan. 
It is not Christian. It is a place in which to worship 
according to the dictates of your heart.” 


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SOLOMON’S TEMPLE 


JERUSALEM 


Solomon’s Temple, “‘the Jewish Temple par excel- 
lence,’ as planned by King David but built by his son, 
King Solomon, was in its famed magnificence and its 
fabulous treasure the pride of the Hebrews and the 
envy of the surrounding nations. 

The Temple proper, or sanctuary, was modeled after 
the tabernacle, or ““Tent of Meeting,’ which, con- 
structed in the wilderness, accompanied the Jewish na- 
tion in its wanderings, and was set up in the midst of 
the camp at every resting place. The Temple occu- 
pied the summit of Mount Moriah, the spot where 
Abraham is said to have gone to offer up Isaac and 
where later David raised an altar to Jehovah, after 
taking Jerusalem from the Jebusites, to whom it orig- 
inally belonged. On this sacred site the Temple altar 
ever afterward stood. 

The Temple proper, or sanctuary, was sacred to the 
priesthood. On the north, east and west sides was a 
terrace, the upper level forming the courts of the Isra- 
elites; next below it the courts of the women; the whole 
rising like a pyramid from a plateau which formed 
the court of the Gentiles. 

The treasurers of the Temple had charge of the sacred 
vessels of gold and silver, the rich vestments of the 
priests, flour, wine, oil, and frankincense for the offer- 
ings, and large sums of money belonging partly to the 
Temple, and partly to private individuals who depos- 
ited it there for safety. Police saw that the regulations 
were observed day and night. Prominent among those 


[7] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


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connected with the Temple services were the musicians, 
whose duty it was to accompany some of these services, 
such as the daily burnt offerings, with singing and 
playing on the cymbal, the psaltery and the harp. 

Solomon’s Temple, built 1012 or 975 B.C., and 
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., was suc- 
ceeded by Zerubbabel’s Temple, built on its site upon 
the return of the Israelites from captivity about 516 
B.C. This Temple was larger but less sumptuous than 
Solomon’s. It was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes 
(167 B.C.) and was replaced by one built on the ruins 
by Herod the Great (16 B.C.-29 A.D.). Herod’s 
Temple was in five levels and similar in plan to Solo- 
mon’s, and surpassed both its predecessors in magni- 
ficence. The Royal Porch of Corinthian columns was 
one of its chief architectural features. Herod’s Temple 
was destroyed by the army of Titus in 70 A.D. 


[8] 


GOLDEN PAGODA 


RANGOON 


The Golden Pagoda (Sway Dagohn), one of the 
most ancient and venerated Oriental shrines in exist- 
ence, is believed by its worshippers to have been erected 
in 588 B.C., on a spot for many previous centuries 
sacred to the relics of three succeeding Buddhas, which 
were discovered there at the time of its erection. Pil- 
grims journey to this historic shrine from countries as 
far distant as Siam and Korea. 

The Golden Pagoda, a marvelously striking struc- 
ture of exquisite design and form, three hundred sev- 
enty feet high and crowned by an umbrella shaped 
room (called Htee), raises its glittering head from 
among a wondrous company of profusely carved 
shrines and smaller Temples, the color and cunning 
workmanship of which are fit adornments to this stu- 
pendous monument. In nearby quaintly carved and 
gilded monasteries dwell yellow robed monks, who 
_ offer prayers and perform other religious rites. 


All about are frescoes and brass, wood, stone and 
marble images of Buddha (560-480 B.C.) and vari- 
ous saints. Smaller pagodas cluster about. Large 
carved elephants and deep urn-shaped vessels beseech 
offerings of food for Buddha. Small golden pagodas, 
here and there, are entwined with beautiful silks woven 
in a single night by devout worshippers. 

The Htee is lavishly studded with precious stones 
and about it are hung scores of tiny gold and jeweled 


[9] 


HVS ORTON GH U RG hrs 


bells, which when lightly swaying in the breeze tinkle 
a sweet and tender melody. This quaint roof is said to 
have cost $250,000. 


EMERALD BUDDHA 


BANGKOK 


In Bangkok, the city of Temples, is the famous Wat 
Phra Kao or Royal Temple for the Emerald Buddha— 
a magnificent green jade figure discovered in 1436. It 
is enthroned on the top of a high altar, above a gor- 
geous array of colored vases, gold, silver, and bronze 
images of Buddha, lamps, candlesticks, and flickering 
tapers. 

According to the seasons of the year the image is at- 
tired in different gold ornaments and robes. 


[10] 


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(THE SEEMPCEI ORs He AN EIN 


PEKING 


Peking, the ancient Tartar city of Kublai Khan, un- 
til the present century was born, held in its heart an- 
other city, ‘“The Imperial City,”’ sacred to the Emperor 
and the imperial family; a city of mystery around 
which have been woven legend and story, and which 
was supposed to hold vast treasures of art, gold, sil- 
ver and jewels. But there came the uprising among 
the people which caused the civilized nations of the 
world to intervene. An allied army marched to the Chi- 
nese capital, penetrated to the sacred inner city and 
found much that was dross, little that was real; but it 
found quaint relics of a long-distant past. Probably 
the greatest of these was the Temple of Heaven, sacred 
to Confucius (551-479 B.C.), and where the Emper- 
ors of China paid homage and made sacrifice. 

There it rises, a mighty red, circular building, sur- 
- mounted by two roofs resembling inverted saucers. It 
is approached from different sides by alabaster stair- 
ways of oriental magnificence, bisected by marble 
panels upon which are chiseled dragons in bold relief. 
These stairways bring one to the ante-Temple, or 
porch, with its ancient stone tablets and stone drums 
antedating more than a score of centuries. Inside all is 
color and magnificence. [here are massive teakwood 
columns reaching to a paneled ceiling high above in the 
shadows; thick coir mattings cover the stone floor, and 
behind the altar is a red wooden shrine holding the tiny 


[11] 


HIS TORTCG  CrURCHES 


sacred tablet of Confucius, China’s greatest teacher. 
Upon the dark red walls are hung the votive tablets 


from the long line of worshipping Emperors who have 
paid him homage. 


[12] 


(¢] abpd 20g) ‘NVdvf ‘OMMIN dO ATdWAL 





























TTEMPLES OF NIKKO 


JAPAN 


On the Holy Mountain of Nikko, the Mecca of 
Japan, is the Sanctuary of Shinto, a series of enchant- 
ing Temples of bronze and lacquer with roofs of gold, 
in which guardian priests chant hymns and white robed 
priestesses perform sacred dances among waving fans. 
Now and then an enormous bronze gong or a mon- 
strous prayer drum calls to devotions. From a vast 
Temple entirely blood red covered by an enormous 
black and gold roof, and entered by granite steps, 
comes a curious religious music. 

Within everything is of black and gold lacquer and 
there are long curtains of black and gold brocade. 
Larger golden vases hold bunches of tall golden lotus 
and branches of full grown cherry blossoms. Bronze 
and gold replace stone and plaster. The walls are of 
gold and the ceilings are supported on columns of gold- 
yellow gold, red gold, green gold—-gold that is vital or 
tarnished, gold that is brilliant or lusterless. And yet, 
- despite so much richness, nothing is overcharged. “The 
effect of the ensemble is simple and restful, and the de- 
tails are harmonious and exquisite. 


“In the Sanctuary of Shinto neither human figures nor 
idols have a part. Nothing stands upon the altars 
but large vases of gold filled with natural flowers or 
gigantic flowers of gold. A solemn hour on the Holy 
Mountain is at nightfall when the Temple closes. 
No lamp has ever shone upon these treasures, which 
have thus slept in darkness in the very heart of Japan 
for many long centuries.’’—Pierre Lott. 


[13] 


THE PARTHENON 


ATHENS 


The Parthenon, Temple of Athena at Athens, 
holds a distinctive place among ancient Iemples of wor- 
ship. It was the chief structure of the city and though 
boasting no remarkable size, it stood unparalleled in its 
time the pride of every Athenian, as it does today, the 
world’s finest example of Greek architecture. Its un- 
excelled beauty lay in its extreme simplicity and har- 
monious proportions. In its sanctuary stood the co- 
lossal gold and ivory statue of Athena, patron goddess 
of the city, in whose honor the Temple had been erected. 

In plan the Parthenon was rectangular, one story 
high, and included only two chambers; one storing the 
sacred vessels and furniture needed in worship, and the 
other, facing the east, enshrining the sacred statue. 

Since the Greek “Temple was designed primarily to 
house the statue of the particular god or goddess wor- 
shipped, rather than to serve a congregation of wor- 
shippers, there was little interior ornamentation of the 
Parthenon. Doric columns, marvels of exquisite 
workmanship, surrounded the exterior. The frieze 
and pediments were adorned with sculptured reliefs 
and statues of life-like colors, which today are treasured 
in museums as among the world’s choicest specimens of 
art. Among the best known are ‘““The Fates’ and 
“Theseus” in the British Museum, the work of Phid- 
ias, under whose superintendence the remarkable dec- 
oration of the Temple was executed. 

The Parthenon, begun in 447 B.C., was rebuilt un- 
der Pericles. After serving as a Temple for some nine 


[14] 











THE PARTHENON, ATHENS. 


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HIS hORTCRCHURCHES 


centuries, it was turned into a Christian church, and 
later into a Moslem mosque. When the Venetians bom- 
barded Athens (1687) its walls were partially demol- 
ished by an explosion caused by a shell hurled into the 
center of the building, which at that time was being 
used by the Turks as a powder magazine. Though it 
has passed through the hands of several nations, the 
Parthenon is still remarkably well preserved. 

The Metropolitan Museum, New York City, treas- 
ures a restored model of this classic edifice. 


[15] 


TEMPLE OF DIANA 


EPHESUS 


Ephesus, famed city of the ancient world, owed 
much of its repute to its world-renowned Greek Tem- 
ple of Diana and its widespread worship of the great 
Nature goddess. There St. Paul, the first Christian 
missionary, met the defiant challenge, “‘Great is Diana 
of the Ephesians.’’ Silversmiths, we are told in the 
Scriptures (Acts XIX), who had their wealth by their 
craft of making silver shrines for Diana, “‘aroused con- 
fusion against this Paul, who had persuaded and 
turned away much people, not alone at Ephesus but 
almost throughout all Asia, saying that there be no 
gods which are made with hands.” ‘The religious 
Ephesians feared that the temple of the great goddess 
Diana would be despised and her magnificence de- 
stroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshipped. 

In 356 B.C., a former Temple of Diana, erected 
about 430 B.C., was burned and a second one built 
by the Ionians. ‘This Temple, the one visited by St. 
Paul, judged by its ruins to have been one of the largest 
Temples ever built, takes its place among the Seven 
Wonders of the ancient world. Its splendor was pro- 
verbial. Massive inscribed columns of the peristyle in- 
dicate that they were gifts from communities, cele- 
brated individuals and kings. Fragments of sculptured 
frieze abound with subjects picturing in relief the 
mythological stories of Diana, Hercules, Theseus, and 
the Amazons. The altar was decorated with the works 
of Phidias and Praxiteles. The statue of the goddess 
was reputed to have fallen from Jupiter. 


[16] 

















‘TEMPLE OF DIANA, EPHESUS. 





His; LORTCE CHURCHES 


After the Edict of Theodosius in 381, closing all the 
pagan Temples, materials of the Temple of Diana as 
well as those of other Temples, were used in the build- 
ing of Christian churches. The green jasper columns 
supporting the dome of St. Sophia are said to have been 
taken from this historic Ephesian temple. 


[17] 


THE PANTHEON 


ROME 


Unique among Rome’s historic buildings stands the 
Pantheon, ‘“Temple of All Gods’ and ‘Pride of 
Rome,” said to be the only ancient Roman building 
still standing virtually complete. 

This stupendous edifice, boasting the world’s largest 
rotunda and dome, occupies the site of the Temple of 
Jupiter, erected by Agrippa in the reign of Augustus, 
27 B.C., and destroyed by fire in 80 A.D. Some forty 
years later Hadrian built the present Pantheon, retain- 
ing the Greek portico and Corinthian pillar plan al- 
most unchanged, but adding the massive rotunda and 
the vast dome. The concrete walls of the rotunda are 
about twenty feet thick. “The exterior, veneered with 
porphyry and marble, was enriched with Corinthian 
pilasters and sculptured ornament, some of which may 
yet be seen. Wall niches were filled with statuary, with 
Jupiter as the central figure, surrounded by his gods 
and goddesses. The pediment of the portico was 
adorned with bronze reliefs representing a battle of 
gods and giants. 

The interior of the rotunda, originally faced with 
valuable Oriental marble and crowned with its vast 
dome the height of which equals its diameter (142% 
feet), is the principal architectural wonder of the edi- 
fice. “Through the central opening, twenty-seven feet 
in diameter, piercing the summit of the dome appears 
the open vault of the sky. It is the only source of light 
to the interior. It appears like a gigantic eye looking 
toward Heaven, and has been pronounced the noblest 


[18] 








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THE PANTHEON, ROME. 





His LORCA CHURCHES 


conception of lighting to be found in any edifice in 
Europe. The Pantheon was once a pagan temple; to- 
day it is a Christian church and a burial place for illus- 
trious dead. Here lies Raphael, immortalized by his 
pictures, so many of which in reverence visualize 
Christ, the Madonna and scenes sacred to Christian be- 
lief; and since Italy became united, the Pantheon has 
provided sepulchre for her Kings—Victor Emanuel II 
and Humbert. 
Thrilled by the sight of it Byron wrote: 


Simple, erect, serene, austere, sublime, 
Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods, 
From Jove to Jesus—spared and blest by time; 
Sanctuary and home 
Of Art and Piety—Pantheon 
Pride of Rome. 


—“‘Childe Harold,’’ Canto IV. 


[19] 





(92 abpd aa9) “aAWOY ‘AYOIDDV VIUVYW V.LNYS 

















EARLY CHRISTIAN OR BASILICAN 
CHURCHES 


When they were come in, they went up into an upper 
room ... and they continued steadfastly in the 
apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of 
bread and in prayers.—Acts I, 13; II, 42. 


By the close of the first century and for the two suc- 
ceeding centuries of the Christian Era, Christianity was 
under persecution. “here were no separate buildings 
for worship. Worshippers met in upper rooms of pri- 
vate houses or huddled together in the dark subterra- 
nean passages of the catacombs to sing hymns, listen to 
the reading of the Scriptures, and partake of the sacri- 
ficial meal in memory of the Last Supper of Jesus with 
His Disciples. The gatherings at cemeteries to celebrate 
the anniversaries of the death of early Christian mar- 
tyrs probably gave rise to chapels in or connected with 
the cemeteries and guarding the entrances to the cata- 
combs, 

Early in the fourth century came a more open form 
of worship. Under the leadership of Constantine the 
age of church building began. This was the day of 
Basilican type of church, several of which Constantine 
founded in Rome and elsewhere through his empire. 
They were modeled after the Roman Basilica, a large 
colonnaded building used for the transaction of busi- 
ness and legal affairs, the plain exterior and spacious in- 
terior arrangement of which met the demands of the 
early Christian ideals both of structure and of ritual 
worship. So admirably did the Basilican Church meet 


[21] 


HISTOR TCR GC RUG tts 


the requirements of the early Christians that its plan 
was generally adopted later for the magnificent medieval 
Cathedrals. 

In the words of Victor Hugo: 

“Whatever may be the carved and nicely wrought ex- 
terior of a cathedral, we always find beneath it, if only 
in rudimentary and dormant state, the Roman Basilica. 
... The trunk of the tree is fixed, the foliage is vari- 
able.”’ 

The semi-circular end of the Basilica, where the 
judges sat, became, accordingly, the sanctuary for the 
presbyters and the bishops. “The congregation occu- 
pied a central hall or nave. Above the columns sur- 
rounding the nave rose another story, called the clere- 
story, the walls of which were pierced with windows 
affording extra light. [he approach was generally 
made through a colonnaded atrium, or forecourt, sur- 
rounded by a covered arcade. “The church, whose apse 
was dignified by the Cathedra (Greek Kathedra), or 
chair of the bishop, became the cathedral, or Episcopal 
Church among parish churches, and the city growing 
up around it the Cathedral City of the diocese. 

Strictly speaking then, while chapels and cathedrals 
were churches, in that they were houses sacred to divine 
worship, there was a clearly defined distinction be- 
tween the two forms even in early Christian church 
days. In cathedrals, full services were performed and 
sacraments administered. In chapels or oratories, such 
as those connected with the catacombs, only prayers 
were offered. Royal families later had Palatine churches 
and chapels, and monasteries their abbey churches. The 
Pontifical Church was supreme over all. 

Until the sixth century the Basilican form of church 
prevailed, at which time the Byzantine influence began 


[22] 








SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE, ROME. Interior. (See page 26) 





PE Sel OR Cae Cr RST ES 


to creep in, noticeably modifying the general type of 
church structure. Later came the medieval cathedral 
in all its magnificent splendor. 


[23] 


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pn 






































eae 


CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY, BETHLEHEM. Exterior and Interior views. 
(See page 25) 











GHUR CHE OR MEET SIN ASU IV ICY: 


BETHLEHEM 


Built over the supposed site of the Khan sheltering 
the Manger of Bethlehem is the oldest Christian church 
in the Orient, and to Christians the most sacred in the 
world, the Church of the Nativity, built by Constan- 
tine in 327. Its walls, battered by the storms of 
seventeen centuries, and pierced by two or three little 
grated windows, have been likened to a fortification 
that has stoutly resisted many assaults. 

But it is not neglect that gives this revered edifice its 
worn appearance inside and out. Monarchs have vied 
with each other in decorating the nave, which is be- 
lieved to be the oldest specimen of Christian architec- 
ture in the world. ‘There are rows of great marble pil- 
lars, remnants of once brilliant paintings now dim and 
tattered by age, and in the clerestory may still be seen 
some fragments of ancient mosaics. Costly draperies 
of embroidered silks are hung upon the marble walls. 

On each side of the low doorway the rough stone 
walls are blackened by the hands of millions of dev- 
otees who have made the sacred pilgrimage to the 
shrine of the waxen baby that lies in the manger cradle 
of marble in the basement chamber, called the ‘‘Grotto 
of the Nativity,’ a cavern about forty feet long by ten 
feet wide, reached by two descending stairways and 
lighted by thirty pendent incense lamps. Ai silver star 
in the pavement marks the traditional spot of the 
Christ Child’s birth. Among the many gilt-orna- 
mented altars under the dim swinging lamps is one 
known as The Altar of the Innocents, marking the re- 


[25] 


HPS TO Ril COG A tee eas 


puted burial place of two thousand children slain by 
Herod. | 

Underneath the floor to the north of the Grotto is the 
cell in which St. Jerome lived peacefully for several 
years while translating the Bible under the direction of 
Pope Damasus, at intervals from 385 to 404. His ver- 
sion in what became commonly known as the “Vul- 
gate,’ because of its general use, was the only Bible 
known to western Christendom for some thousand 
years. 

St. James’ Chapel and tomb are here. 


SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE 


ROME 


Among the best preserved and most perfect examples 
of early Christian Basilicas is Santa Maria Maggiore, 
built in 432 and but little altered. Its plan is that of 
the original Roman Basilica, with nave and single aisles. 
The interior of the nave, dating from the fourth cen- 
tury, is adorned with mosaic decorations of the fifth 
century. ‘The square side chapels built out from each 
side of the single side aisles during the Renaissance 
and surmounted by domes,”’ says Caffin, “‘suggest the 
later Byzantine influence.”’ 


[26] 


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TOIIIIUT TOI XT 








CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE 


JERUSALEM 


In the heart of Jerusalem is another sacred shrine of 
the Holy Land, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, ‘‘A 
Church within a Church,” erected on the site of a Tem- 
ple dedicated about 135 by Hadrian, over the tradi- 
tional site of Christ’s Crucifixion and Burial. The rec- 
ord is that Constantine, after the great Council of 
Nicea, in 325, wishing to find and to consecrate the 
spots sacred to the Crucifixion and Resurrection, de- 
cided upon this site as correct. 

Constantine’s Church, completed about 336, suf- 
fered some damage at the hands of the Persians in 614, 
but was spared by Caliph Omar (successor to Moham- 
med) when he captured Jerusalem in 636. 

In 1010, another caliphate virtually destroyed the 
church, but in the twelfth century it was restored and 
enlarged by the Crusaders, after their capture of Jeru- 
salem (1099), becoming at that time the center of a 
group of ecclesiastical buildings. 

The present edifice dates from 1810, when the 
church, which had been nearly destroyed by fire, was 
restored after the plan of the Crusaders. 

There is a high central dome under which is a marble 
chapel, and before this chapel great numbers of candles 
are flickering and burning lamps are smoking, while all 
about are a profusion of crosses and candelabra and 
much shining brass. More than forty lamps are hung 
within the tomb, or Holy Sepulchre. They are of blue, 
red, green and purple, and are constantly tended. In 
the ante-chamber, framed in brass, is a stone, believed 


[27] 


FPS TOR Cnn ant ees 


to be the rock that was rolled away from the mouth 
of the tomb by angels on the morning of the Resur- 
rection. 

In Golgotha Chapel stands the altar, resplendent 
with golden crosses, burning tapers and sacred pictures, 
and under it a hole, bordered with brass in the marble 
pavement, revered as the spot where the Cross was 
planted. 

The Stone of Unction, a cracked marble slab, tradi- 
tionally the actual rock on which the Body of Jesus 
lay and was anointed for burial, is worn with the 
kisses of countless worshippers. 

The Chapel of St. Helena, a subcellar entered by 
thirty descending steps dimly lighted by candles, is 
sacred to the Empress Helena, Constantine's mother, 
who, tradition says, visited the Holy Land at the time 
of the founding of the church and conducted the exca- 
vations which revealed the true Cross and two others, 
supposedly those of the two thieves, Christ’s compan- 
ions in crucifixion. This True Cross now exists in small 
pieces in the sacred reliquaries of many of the world’s 
most famous cathedrals and chapels. 





GCHURGH OFS Te SIMEON :S tye ints 


KELAT-SEMAN 


In Syria is another of the Basilican type, the Church 
of St. Simeon Stylites, whose court contained the re- 
nowned eighty-foot pillar on which this saint, accord- 
ing to tradition, spent thirty years in meditation and 
prayer. 


[28] 








(See page 29) 


CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN LATERAN, ROME. 


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Se JORNG CAE RAN 


ROME 


St. John Lateran, the earliest of Rome’s three vast 
five-aisled Basilicas of the fourth century, dedicated to 
St. John, St. Paul and St. Peter, though completely 
transformed by its frequent remodelings, still preserves 
its original basilican form. 

This historic church—more than a cathedral, in that 
it was the mother of Basilican churches and the seat of 
the Pope until succeeded by St. Peter’s in the fifteenth 
century—is said to occupy the site of a palace confis- 
cated by Nero and later made his imperial residence. 
Constantine, in 312 gave the palace to the Pope, and 
in 324 Pope Silvester I erected the first Basilican church 
of St. John Lateran. The solemn entrance of the Pope 
into his office is celebrated by his taking possession of 
this church. At St. Peter’s he is Pope, at St. John’s, 
Bishop of Rome. 

The Lateran Palace nearby was the habitual home 
of the Popes from the fourth century until their migra- 
tion to Avignon. After their return they took up their 
residence in the Vatican. 





CATHEDRAL OF MONREALE 


SICILY 


The Cathedral of Monreale, near Palermo, also Ba- 
silican in plan, is noted for its mosaics of Biblical sub- 
jects framed in arabesque borders, again denoting 
Byzantine influence. 


[29] 


OLD SU PERERS 


ROME 


Old St. Peter’s (the Cathedral Church of St. Peter), 
the second Basilican church erected near the supposed 
site of St. Peter’s martyrdom in the circus of Nero, 
though demolished in 1506 to make way for the pres- 
ent St. Peter’s is preserved in the record of its plan. 
This shows that the Basilica buildinz was approached 
by an atrium, or open court bordered by colonnades or 
arcades, with a fountain in the cer tre with the waters 
of which worshippers sprinkled themselves. “his sym- 
bol of purification is typified by “he vessel of holy water 
just inside the entrances to Catholic churches. The 
principal facade is pictured ir Raphael’s mural paint- 
ing, ‘“‘Incendio del Borgo,”’ ir. the Vatican. 

It was in this church that Charlemagne, the warrior- 
statesman, was crowned bead of the Holy Roman Em- 
pire on Christmas day, %400. 





ST. STEFANO ROTONDO 


ROME 


St. Stefano Rotondo, built in the fifth century, is 
said to be the largest circular church in existence. In- 
stead of its one-time rich decorations of marble veneers 
and mosaics, one now sees “‘horribly naturalistic scenes 
of martyrdom executed at the end of the seventeenth 
century.’ 


[30] 




















aes 


Sia VALE 


RAVENNA 


St. Vitale, at Ravenna, at one time the chief port by 
which the trade of Constantinople (or Byzantium) 
entered Italy, was built by the Emperor Justinian 
about 536, probably as a Court church after routing 
the Goths through his general, Belisarius. It is a not- 
able example of Byzantine influence in church build- 
ing, although its domical arrangement may have been 
originally derived from that of the Pantheon. ‘This 
early Christian church later became the model for 
Charlemagne’s Royal Tomb Church at Aix-la-Chap- 
pelle (796-814). It preserves among its relics a mosaic 
of Justinian, dating from 547. 


ST. CLEMENT'S 


ROME 


St. Clement’s, another notable example of early 
Basilican churches still standing in Rome, has aisles ter- 
minating in apses. Another suggestion of the Byzantine 
influence on early church architecture shows also in the 
adoption of domes to replace the flat wooden roofs of 
the Basilican church. 


[31] 


ST. APOLLINARE NUOVO 


RAVENNA 


The Basilican church of St. Apollinare Nuovo re- 
mains a monument of ‘Theodoric the Great. Its marble 
columns imported from Constantinople and rich in- 
terior mosaic decorations of martyrs and saints bespeak 
Byzantine artist and artisan influences, as do also the 
mosaics which adorn the larger Basilican church of St. 
Apollinare in Classe. 

Ravenna was famous for its mosaics—a kind of pic- 
ture decoration formed from small pieces of colored 
glass set in cement against a wall or other surface to 
be ornamented,—one of the richest forms of decora- 
tion. Mosaics were used even in early Christian 
churches and lavishly in medieval cathedrals. 

The manufacture of mosaics was at one time a great 
industry in Italy. They were used not only for orna- 
mentation but for the reproduction of paintings. It is 
said that one factory kept no less than 25,000 differ- 
ent shades and tints of colored glass, so that it was pos- 
sible to imitate any shade or color of a painting, and 
at a little distance these mosaic copies often could 
hardly be told from the original paintings. The most 
noted mosaics were those of Ravenna, which people 
went from all parts of the world to see and study. 


[32] 


SNR 








29) 


(See page 


Interior. 


NREALE, SICILY. 


CATHEDRAL OF Mo 





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4 


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ST. PAUL-WITHOUT-THE-WALLS 


ROME 


One of the finest examples of early Christian 
churches is St. Paul-Without-the-Walls, the original of 
which was begun in 380 by Theodosius and destroyed 
by fire in 1823. Under the altar of the original church 
were the remains of St. Paul. The present building, 
completed in 1854, preserves the plan of the old 
church, which is much like that of Old St. Peter’s. 

Other Emperors and other Popes contributed to its 
construction and adornment. Commemorating the 
munificence of the latter are portrait medallions of 
these emiment heads of the Catholic church, arranged 
in a band above the arches of the arcade on each side 
of the nave. Above them the walls are faced with rare 
' marbles encasing panels of paintings representing inci- 
dents in the life of St. Paul. 

Amid the somewhat extreme sumptuousness of the 
interior of the modern church a feeling of the older 
character of a Basilican church is preserved in the 
mosaics of the fifth century which adorn the Arch of 
Triumph, and in those of the apse, which date from the 
early part of the thirteenth century. 


[33] 


MONASTERY OF MAR SABA 


On the way “up to Jerusalem,’’ one sees, among 
other historic structures, the picturesque Monastery of 
Mar Saba. Here forty monks still inhabit the cells 
which cluster around the grave of St. Sabias, its 
founder, who died in 532. In this monastic fortress 
in the eighth century lived Stephen, the Sabiate, so 
gifted with the supreme talent of embodying in simple 
hymns the essence of divine life that one of his hymns 
still lives and profoundly touches the hearts of Chris- 
tian worshippers everywhere. Paraphrasing his hymn 
known as “The Song of Stephen the Sabiate,’’ Dr. 
Neale has given the Christian world its much beloved 


Art thou weary, art thou languid 
Art thou sore distressed? 

“Come to me,”’ said One, ‘“‘and coming 
Be at rest.”’ 


Thus the eighth century hymn, originally chanted 
“on the stern ramparts of this outpost of eastern Chris- 
tendom, already threatened with submersion beneath 
the flood of Moslem conquest,’’ has become the price- 
less heritage of twentieth century worship. 


[34] 


MOSQUES, TEMPLES OF MAHOMET 


Throughout the Orient, northern Africa and south- 
ern Europe one sees everywhere the mosque, sacred to 
Moslem worship, with its beautiful minarets from the 
balcony of which ‘“‘the faithful’ are called to prayer. 
In style of architecture, arrangement and decoration, 
this house of worship is unique. Many ancient ones 
were early Christian churches which the Moslems 
seized and remodeled to suit their own form of wor- 
ship. Newer mosques, still standing in Egypt and 
some cathedrals still in Spain are striking examples of 
the artistic genius and religious zeal of the Moor. 

Characteristic of all mosques, besides the ever-pres- 
ent minaret, are the Holy Prayer niches, pulpit, reading 
desk and Fountain of Ablution. Thrice daily from the 
minaret sounds the summons to prayer. In the morn- 
ing the muezzin, or caller, mounts to the first balcony; 
at noon to the second, and at sunset to the top. And 
the faithful never miss their prayers. 


[35] 








te a. 
fs 


THE GREAT MOSQUE 


MECCA 


In Mecca, the metropolis of ancient Arabian com- 
merce and the center of early Moslem religion, situated 
about fifty miles east of the Red Sea, stands the Mosque 
of Mecca, the Moslem ‘‘House of God, and Prohib- 
ited.’ The present “‘sacred area” (erected 1566-1574), 
three hundred yards square, with nineteen gateways, 
and accommodating as many as 35,000 worshippers, 
is much more imposing than that of Mohammed’s time. 
The earliest form of mosque was a simple arrangement 
of open-arcaded court with prayer halls affording pro- 
tection to worshippers. 

The chief sanctuary of the mosque at Mecca is the 
Kaaba, a cube-shaped building (forty feet long, thirty- 
three feet wide, and fifty feet high), occupying the cen- 
ter of the mosque. “The Kaaba holds embedded in its 
southeast corner walls a small Black Stone, the object 
of veneration which gives the Kaaba its sanctity. The 
Mohammedans connect the building of the first Kaaba 
with Abraham, and treasure the legend that the Black 
Stone, once white but now black from the kisses of mil- 
lions of sinners’ lips, came from Heaven. ‘The ancient 
Stone, now broken in pieces, is held together by silver 
bands. 

Pilgrims to Mecca enter the courtyard, walk seven 
times around the Kaaba (seven being the holy number 
in Islam), and kiss the Stone. Every year, history re- 
lates, Arab tribes ceased fighting for four months and 


[37] 


HISTORIC C HUNG Eres 


went up to Mecca to buy and sell and to pay homage 
to the Kaaba and its Black Stone. 

Although this most ancient of mosques has been re- 
built several times since the days of Mohammed, its in- 
terior, rich with beautiful mosaic pavements, intricate 
Arabic mural inscriptions, lamps of massive gold sus- 
pended from the ceiling, and the ever-present prayer 
rug, remains much as it was in the days of Islam’s 
greatest prophet. 

The first caliphs kept the sacred building covered 
with costly Egyptian hangings, three new ones being 
provided each year. The present covering, a magnifi- 
cent black brocade, embroidered in all-over design, 
which extends thirty-three feet from the bottom, is sent 
new from Cairo each year. ‘The design depicts a golden 
legend, composed of extracts from the Koran. The 
Mosque at Mecca is the only one having seven minarets. 


[38] 





THE MOSQUE OF OMAR, JERUSALE 





(See page 39) 


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THE MOSQUE OF OMAR 


JERUSALEM 


In Jerusalem, ‘“‘city sacred to Christian and Jew 
alike, and, after Mecca, the most sacred Mohammedan 
city, stands the Mosque of Omar, more correctly 
known among historic churches as ‘“The Dome of the 
Rock.” It marks the traditional site of David’s altar 
of burnt offerings and the Great Altar of Burnt Offer- 
ings in Solomon’s ‘Temple later erected over this sacred 
spot. ‘The original Mosque was built about 690 A.D., 
by the successor of Caliph Omar, who, we are told, 
piously cleared the débris from the hallowed place as 
soon as he conquered Palestine. “here were many res- 
torations, the walls enclosing the structure having been 
built in the ninth century. The great dome built over 
the Sakhrah or Sacred Rock were rebuilt by Saladin in 
1189. 

It stands in the center of a group of buildings in a 
courtyard entered through eight gateways—an edifice 
of beautifully wrought marble. It is a structure of 
blue, but as one writer says, ‘‘a blue so exquisite and 
rare that it seems to be some old enchanted palace made 
of turquoise.”’ 

The interior shows two concentric rows of pillars, 
one octagonal, the other circular, supporting the mag- 
nificent dome. The columns, composed of red por- 
phyry and different colors of marble, with gilded cap- 
itals, stand out resplendent against marble walls, ar- 
ranged in symmetrical arabesque designs like beautiful 
inlaid work. The dome and windows are of many- 
colored glass, giving prismatic loveliness to the light as 


[39] 


HIS TORTC GHW CORES 


it shines through. The masonry is covered with mosaics 
so delicately and expertly fashioned that they resemble 
rich tapestries and brocades, and antique Persian and 
Turkish rugs of delicate hues, priceless, magnificent, 
are spread upon the marble pavement. 

Among its relics are the Stone of Abraham and the 
relics of Mohammed. 

With the exception of the dome, which was restored 
in the twelfth century, the Crusaders found the mosque 
very much in its present condition. “They converted it 
into a church and placed their altar in the center on 
David’s rock, but after the fall of the Franks, Saladin 
restored it to its Moslem faith. 


[40} 


([# abvd 209) ‘NIVdS ‘VAOGNOD AO ANOSOW: 











MOSQUE OF CORDOVA 


SPAIN 


The Mosque of Cordova, begun in 786, and ranking 
second in size to the great Mosque of Mecca, still stands, 
a marvelous memorial of Cordova’s supremacy as the 
most learned, cultured and prosperous caliphate in all 
Islam. It fulfilled the desire of its builders to construct 
a mosque which would surpass those of Bagdad, Da- 
mascus and Jerusalem. 

After the expulsion of the Moors this magnificent 
mosque was converted into a cathedral. It was repeat- 
edly enlarged until it reached its present dimensions, 
(570 by 425 feet). “The most striking feature of the 
interior is a great forest of pillars supporting open 
horse-shoe arches in two tiers. Originally there were 
about twelve hundred of these pillars, but many of 
them have been destroyed. 

Like most of these ancient mosques the interior is 
richly colorful in its porphyry, jasper, breccia and 
many hued marbles. Most of them are ancient, and 
were carried to Cordova by Arabs from northern 
Spain, Roman Africa and Gaul. Some belonged to the 
Temple of Janus which ages ago stood upon this site. 

The decorations are of Moorish lavishness and or- 
nate design. There is a dazzling array of crystal, bas- 
reliefs, gold work and hundreds of lamps filled with 
perfumed oil bring flash and sparkle from the crystal, 
making the vast interior seem as if encrusted with 
brilliants. 

A treasured possession of the Mosque of Cordova is 
the Koran, covered with gold and ornamented with 
pearls. 


[41] 


THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN HASSAN 


CAIRO 


Not only is the Mosque of Sultan Hassan the most 
beautiful in Cairo, but by many it is considered the 
most beautiful in the Moslem world. It was built in 
1336, a century before the fall of Constantinople, and 
typifies the highest development of Saracenic art in 
Egypt. While not so large as the great Mosque of 
Damascus, nor built of such costly materials as the 
Mosque of St. Sofia, it is given preeminence over these 
because of the perfect unity of its design, perfect pro- 
portions and dignified grace. It is a true mosque and 
was designed as such, while those of St. Sofia and Da- 
mascus were originally Christian churches and show 
evidences of adaptation. 

Within the great, open, quadrangular marble court, 
more than one hundred feet square, with walls more 
than one hundred feet high, are vast side recesses framed 
by a single arch, forming spacious halls for rest and 
prayer. ‘Ihe eastern recess, wider and deeper than the 
other three, forms a dais and contains the Holy Prayer 
niche and the preacher’s pulpit. 

In an enormous vaulted sepulchral hall (one hun- 
dred feet square), stands a railed-off tomb at the foot 
of which for five hundred years, it is said—ever since 
the burial of Sultan Hassan—stood an empty iron- 
bound coffin which contained a fine copy of the Koran, 
traditionally accepted as written by Sultan Hassan’s 
own hand. A Khedive collecting choice Arabic manu- 
scripts lately ordered its removal. 


[42] 


TOWOUT JOMIXA 
‘OUIYD ‘NYSSVH NVLINS dO ANDSOWF SHL 








TISRORT Ge Ci ROITES 


Prominent in the court is the Fountain of Ablution, 
an indispensable feature of every mosque, at which 
worshippers wash before they pray or rest. The Mo- 
hammedan house of worship is ever open to the home- 
less wanderer of the faith, offering him shelter by night 
or day. 

The Mosque of Sultan Hassan, like St. Sophia, with 
its attendant buildings, represents the tendency of 
mosques built after the thirteenth century, to assume 
the form of the medieval monastery, having in connec- 
tion a residence for the priests, and other secular build- 
ings closely connected with the sanctuary of worship. 


[43] 


GRAND MOSQUE OF DAMASCUS 


The Grand Mosque of Damascus stands on the for- 
mer site of a Christian Church of St. John the Baptist, 
dating from the fifth century, which, in turn, marks the 
site of an earlier pagan temple, “‘part of whose hoary 
front still stands, a magnificent fragment of ancient 
heavy masonry and carving now brown with age.” 

Other representative mosques are the Mosque of 
Amru, at Cairo, one of the oldest in Egypt; El-Aksah, 
on the temple platform at Jerusalem; Sultan Barbouk, 
in Egypt, famous for its minarets and dome; the 
Mosque of Kait-Bey, Egypt, noted for its distinctive 
decoration of arches; and St. Cristo de la Luz and 
Santa Maria la Bianca, Mosques of Toledo, now con- 
verted into Catholic churches. 

The Great Mosque of Ispahan, Persia, includes 
among its notable features, curious bulbous-shaped 
domes and minarets of peculiar elegance. 

The Mosque of Machpelah, at Hebron, marks the 
traditional site of the tomb of Abraham, Isaac and 
Jacob. 


[44] 


‘SQNOSYWYC JO ANOSOFW GNVUD FHL 
































ST. SOPHIA 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


When Constantine made Byzantine his capital, nam- 
ing it Constantinople, he erected a church to the Divine 
or Holy Wisdom (Greek, Hagia Sophia). ‘This 
church was rebuilt by his son Constantine, and again 
in 415 by Theodosius II, and was destroyed by fire in 
532. Justinian (527-565), famous builder of early 
Christian churches, undertook its reconstruction on a 
new plan, commanding his generals to search through 
all the old ‘Temples in existence for columns, alabasters, 
precious relics, and ornaments, and throughout the 
kingdom for artisans worthy of the magnificent Chris- 
tian church he would build. 

On Christmas Day of 537, five years after the archi- 
tects of Miletus had begun work on it, Justinian’s 
church in Constantinople, by far the grandest of all the 
twenty-five churches which he is said to have erected in 
the city and its suburbs, was dedicated and the glory of 
it called forth from its builder the words, “‘Oh, Solo- 
mon, I have surpassed thee.’’ Today the world gener- 
ally concedes St. Sophia, Justinian’s great Hall of Wor- 
ship, a marvel, not only of construction but also of 
unity and proportion. It was constructed in less than 
eight years at a total estimated cost of $64,000,000, 
and is second only to the world’s largest and most mag- 
nificent church. 

Although the exterior of St. Sophia is disappoint- 
ing, because of its heavy, ‘‘squatty’’ appearance, its in- 
terior is unexcelled in richness and splendor, wholly 
warranting the distinctive title sometimes given it, 


[45] 


HIS TORICGCACHURGCHES 


“The Jewel Box of Constantinople.’’ Contributions 
came from all over the world. Columns of infinite va- 
riety and sizes represent the ruined temples of the 
world—Ephesus, Thebes, Athens and Alexandria. Its 
collection of priceless marbles, gold and silver vessels, 
and precious stones is unsurpassed. 

The main building is roofed over by a central dome 
—St. Sophia’s chief architectural glory—107 feet in 
diameter and 179 feet high, supported by four arches, 
each having a span of nearly a hundred feet and resting 
upon eight porphyry columns arranged in pairs at the 
four corners of the nave. ‘The base of the dome has 
forty-six arched windows. 

The mammoth dome, the chief marvel of the 
Mosque, the plan of which tradition says an angel re- 
vealed to Justinian, was built, we are told, of ‘“‘pumice 
stone that floats on water, and with bricks from the 
island of Rhodes, five of which weigh less than an ordi- 
nary brick.’’ On the top in white letters, some nine 
yards long, on a black background, one reads, “‘Allah 
is the light of heaven and earth,” the sentence pro- 
nounced by Mahomet II, seated on his white horse in 
front of the high altar on the day of his entry into the 
captured city of Constantinople, marking his conquest 
of the Byzantine Empire (1453). Then the Crescent 
of the Moor replaced the Christians’ Cross. 

The ‘‘Mihrab,”’ the Holy Place where the spirit of 
God dwells, is cut in one of the pilasters of the apse, 
indicating the direction of Mecca, and to the right of 
it hangs one of Mahomet’s prayer carpets. A steep 
staircase with balustrades of beautifully sculptured 
marble, leads to the pulpit where the ratib read the 
Koran, with naked scimeter in his hand to indicate that 


[46] 





CONSTANTINOPLE. 


ST. SOPHIA, 
Upper view shows the mammoth dome 


1 of the Mosque. 


f marve 


the chie 





PEL ReGen Gr RCT ES 


the Mosque was acquired by conquest. There are large 
cartouches of porphyry, which carry inscriptions of 
Allah, Mahomet and the first four caliphs. Lecterns 
decorated with mother-of-pearl and copper, are placed 
here and there, holding manuscript Korans. Faded 
mosaics decorate the walls, and ancient prayer rugs and 
mats cover the floor. 

When the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, 
this Christian church became a Mohammedan mosque. 
The story goes that when the triumphant, armor-clad 
Mahomet rode into St. Sophia, he laid his hand, red 
with the blood of massacred Christians, on one of the 
massive pillars, and the impress of it is still there for 
the inspection of curious visitors. All Christian em- 
blems and decorations were covered with whitewash 
or stucco, or otherwise obliterated, and great round 
shield discs, bearing quotations from the Koran in 
Turkish script, substituted. our high minarets were 
erected at each of the exterior angles. 

Today, baths, schools, mausoleums and hospitals 
crowd around the ancient Basilican mosque, by no 
means heightening its architectural beauty. 


[47] 





MEDIEVAL CATHEDRALS 


The medieval conceptions of Christianity are splen- 
didly exemplified in the cathedrals and churches of that 
period. They show the growth of Christian ideas at a 
time of which we have all-too-little knowledge. Of 
the life of the cities they were the hearts. To them the 
people resorted. They were the refuge of the oppressed 
and they were the centers of thought and culture of 
their communities. They were, as one writer aptly 
says, ‘mighty Bibles, sources of instruction and inspi- 
ration at a time when just this was needed.” 

In the old days they were ablaze with color, light 
streaming through windows of many tints to rest upon 
rich tapestries and hangings, while paintings of masters 
hung upon ornate walls, and decorations of many 
kinds were lavishly displayed. 

About every gray stone building with its stalwart 
towers and slender arches pointing skyward, countless 
age-old legends linger, as thickly as does the ivy that 
covers their walls. Enshrined in each is not only fas- 
cinating historic romance, but stories of their builders 
and of those who worshipped within them. 

“Great buildings,’’ says Victor Hugo, “‘like great 
mountains, are the work of centuries.’’ And so it is that 
cathedral building became a great and honored profes- 
sion. Cathedral builders not only had to live honor- 
able lives, but each in his line had to be so skilled as to 
be almost perfect. Powerful guilds controlled styles 
and ideals, which each generation handed down to the 
next. In Longfellow’s words in ‘“The Golden Leg- 
end’ immortalizing the Strassburg Cathedral, ‘“The 


[49] 


HIiShORTCRCHIOR Grrr 


architect built his great heart into these sculptured 
stones and with him toiled his children.”’ 

Religious architecture then, as in all times, became 
the highest expression of the art of the people, whether 
classic, Romanesque, Anglo-Norman, Gothic or Re- 
naissance in its outward form. ‘The religious edifice 
led all others in the progress of building. Churches es- 
tablished the standards of building, as of living. In- 
dividual and national life immortalized itself in its 
churches.” ““Time was the architect and the nation the 
mason.,”’ 

Thus the Gothic Cathedral, says Caffin, “was not 
only the House of God; it was also the House of Man 
—the civic center of his religious, social, moral and 
intellectual life.”’ 


[50] 


(1¢ ebvd aag) “AOINT A ‘S,MAYIN “LS 











* 


























ST. MARK’S 


VENICE 


And ’tis a strange and noble pile 

Pillared into many an aisle. 

Every pillar fair to see— 

Marble, jasper, porphyry, 

The Church of St. Mark, which stands hard by 
With fretted pinnacles on high, 

And cupola and minaret, 

More like the Mosque of Orient lands 

Than the fanes wherein we pray 

And Mary’s blessed likeness stands. 


—‘‘Childe Harold,’’ Canto IV. 


St. Mark’s, erected by Byzantine builders at the end 
of the eleventh century in Venice, City by the Sea, not 
only rivals, but stimulates St. Sophia in beauty of con- 
struction and decoration. Its model was the Church 
of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, erected by 
Constantine and destroyed by the Turks in 1463 to 
make room for the Mosque of Sultan Mahomet II. 
The church is of Greek Byzantine design, and quite 
naturally bears the form of a Greek cross (a cross with 
the four arms of equal length), topped with fine, grace- 
ful low domes, one in the center and one over each arm 
of the cross. Under the high altar of the central dome 
rests the remains of St. Mark, Patron Saint of the city, 
appropriately guarded by the statues of the twelve 
Apostles. 

The original St. Mark’s was San Marco, a Basilican 
chapel attached to the Doge’s Palace, and erected in 
honor of the acquisition of the bones of St. Mark the 
Evangelist, from Alexandria to Venice in 828 A.D., at 


[51] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


which time he was chosen Patron Saint of the city. 
Tradition makes him the first bishop of the Venetian 
Isles and people. “The chapel was burned in 976, and 
was wholly reconstructed, substantially on the present 
plan of St. Mark’s. Previous to 1807, St. Mark’s was 
merely a royal chapel, embellished by the successive 
Doges until the fall of Venice. The city’s shrine was 
increasingly adorned. A law compelled every mer- 
chant who journeyed to the Orient to bring back some- 
thing to beautify it. For five hundred years Venetians 
have been adorning their church, and the Cathedral of 
Venice stands today without rival a “‘marvelous en- 
semble of embellishment and decoration,’’ one of the 
most gorgeously beautiful buildings of the world. 

The picturesque entrance of fine portals is enriched 
with shafts of variously colored marbles brought from 
Jerusalem, Ephesus, Alexandria, Smyrna, Constanti- 
nople and other cities of the Orient. “‘On one,” says 
Stoddard, “‘the hand of Cleopatra may have rested; an- 
other may have cast its shadow on St. Paul; a third 
may have been looked upon by Jesus.”’ . 

Four colossal horses of gilded bronze, five feet high 
and weighing 1,932 pounds, known as the “‘traveled 
horses,’ because they passed through so many lands 
before arriving at Venice, are set over the central door. 
They were supposedly brought from Constantinople 
in 1204. Of these “‘traveled horses’ says Byron: 


Before St. Mark’s still glow his steeds of brass, 
Their gilded collars glittering in the sun. 


St. Mark’s possesses one of the most beautiful of 
church interiors. Vaults and domes are resplendent in 
magnificent mosaics of exquisite color schemes set in 


[52] 





(See page 51) 


Interior. 


MARK’S, VENICE 


Sia 





HISHMIOR TGC HURCHES 


gilded backgrounds, picturing the saints and telling the 
story of their lives. Other mosaics, not attempting to 
imitate, but reproducing drawings from Titian, adorn 
the walls. A rich veneer of colored marbles encases the 
lower part of the walls. The altar screen containing 
hundreds of precious stones, celebrated as one of the 
richest and most beautiful pieces of gold and silver 
work in the world, is displayed at certain seasons. 

The famous pigeons, always associated with St. 
Mark’s, are said to have been kept in the square and 
fed by the city ever since Andrea Dandolo, Doge of 
Venice and Crusader, received valuable information by 
carrier pigeons while besieging Candia. 

Ruskin, in ““The Stones of Venice,’’ suggests that 
the traveler, when dazzled by the brilliancy of the 
square of today, try to visualize the scene as it was 
when St. Mark’s was built—a green field divided by a 
small canal bordered by trees. 


, 





CATHEDRAL 


NAPLES, ITALY 


Naples, the largest city and seaport of Italy, and 
richer in archeological than architectural interests, has 
a striking Gothic cathedral, erected 1272-1323, and 
repeatedly modernized. It is dedicated to St. Januar- 
ius and contains among its relics, the celebrated vials in 
which the liquefication of the Saint’s blood is alleged 
to take place on three annual festivals. 

It contains also the tombs of Charles, of Anjou, and 
Pope Innocent IV, besides numerous fine paintings and 
statues. 


[53] 


CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 


KENT, ENGLAND 


English Cathedrals, says Caffin, are in a very full 
sense an expression of the nation’s growth—a char- 
acterization peculiarly fitting to Canterbury Cathedral 
in Kent, England, the home of the ‘““Mother Church of 
England.”’ There it was that the monk, St. Augustine, 
nearly fifteen centuries ago, with forty companions, 
arrived to carry the gospel to heathen England at the 
command of Gregory the Great (Gregory II), who 
viewed the Kingdom of Kent with its Christian Queen, 
the Frankish Princess Bertha, as a promising mission 
field. “The monks were assigned a residence in Canter- 
bury (sometimes called the first English Christian 
city), by her husband, Ethelbert, King of Kent. ‘That 
city to this day remains the religious capital of England 
and the Archiepiscopal See of the Primate of all Eng- 
land. | 

Although the close of the sixth century (597) and 
St. Augustine’s arrival in Kent mark the coming of 
Christianity to England, the new religion had been in- 
troduced among the Britons probably as early as the 
second century by Roman soldiers and merchants. 
Proof of this was the Christian Queen herself and also 
her Church of St. Martin’s Hill, dating from pre-Saxon 
times and given her by Ethelbert, as a place of worship, 
deserted at that time, but formerly used by Roman 
Christians. This church, as the story goes, St. Augus- 
tine reconsecrated under the name of Christ’s Church, 
and made it the scene of his earliest work in Canter- 
bury. In it he baptized King Ethelbert. The present 


[54] 



































CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL, KENT, ENGLAND. 
Exterior and Interior Views. 





Hisd ORTCSCHURCHES 


St. Martin’s at Canterbury, dating from the thirteenth 
century, and occupying the site of this old church, built 
before the arrival of St. Augustine, contains some of 
the Roman bricks used in the original structure, a truly 
historic church and fittingly called, ‘““The Mother 
Church of Great Britain,’ since in it Christian learning 
and civilization first took root in the Anglo-Saxon 
race. 


The authentic history of Canterbury Cathedral, 
officially the Cathedral of Christ’s Church at Canter- 
bury, began with the Norman Conquest (1067), 
when Lanfranc, the first Norman Archbishop, erected 
a splendid church upon a site a mile or so westward 
from the Old St. Martin’s Church (upon which had 
been erected another more ancient church), the first 
germ of the present edifice. In 1093, Lanfranc’s suc- 
cessor, Anselm, enlarged the church, which, destroyed 
by fire in 1174, was rebuilt and repeatedly remodelled 
throughout the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. The 
central tower two hundred thirty four feet high, 
known as the Angel Tower, the chief glory of the ex- 
terior, and the Lady Chapel, were among the embel- 
lishments added at this time. Some four centuries in 
building, the Cathedral represents both the transitional 
Norman and the perpendicular or Gothic style of archi- 
tecture. Of the lovely Angel Tower one says: ‘It may 
be surpassed in height, but in beauty never.”’ 

Canterbury Cathedral, celebrated in both old Eng- 
lish history and poetry, still today, in its setting of 
ruins of Norman castles, ancient city walls, and medie- 
val houses with gabled ends and projecting fronts, re- 
tains many aspects of its early days and contains 
revered relics of its romantic past. Chief among these 


[55] 


HIS TORT CRU RG TEs 


is the transept called ‘“The Martyrdom’”’ marking the 
spot where Thomas a Becket was murdered December 
29, 1170 by King Henry II, whose policies he opposed. 
It is this spot, for years the object of great pilgrimages 
of Christendom, which still lives in ““The Canterbury 
Tales’ of Chaucer (1340-1400), an interesting con- 
temporary account of these religious excursions, makes 
Canterbury a place of considerable importance. 
Chequers Inn, where Chaucer's pilgrims were housed, 
still stands. It is said that there were some fifteen hun- 
dred yearly offerings at this shrine, each amounting to 
about $20,000. A mosaic pavement still remains in 
front of the place where Becket’s shrine stood, the steps 
leading up to which are worn by the knees of countless 
pilgrims who worshipped there. ‘This historic spot, 
among other ecclesiastical places and buildings of inter- 
est, suffered extensive destruction at the hands of 
Henry VIII during the Reformation period of 1538. 

A panel above the south porch represents in curious 
old sculpture the altar of Becket’s martyrdom. ‘“The 
Gateway of Martyrdom” marks the door by which 
Becket passed to his doom, after having fled to the 
church for protection after a violent scene with the 
Knights of Henry, an incident faithfully and graphic- 
ally described in Tennyson's ‘“Thomas a Becket.” 

In the Angel or Bell Tower hangs the mighty Dun- 
stan bell, weighing three tons, three hundredweight. 
Originally the gilded figure of an angel was poised on 
the pinnacle of the tower. The tomb of the Black 
Prince, boy hero of Crécy (1346), with black armor 
above; St. Gabriel’s Chapel and the Chained Bible are 
other relics of interest. 


[56] 























ge 57) 


(See pa 


SANTA MARIA NOVELLO, FLORENCE. 





HIS TORTCTCHnUOUROCHES 


The beautiful stained-glass windows of the choir 
date from the thirteenth century. The cloisters are dec- 
orated with arms of Kentish families. 

As one descends into the crypt, he sees St. Augus- 
tine’s chair of Purbeck marble, which tradition says is 
the throne on which kings of Kent were crowned, given 
by Ethelbert to Augustine. Upon it every Archbishop 
for the last six hundred years has sat when admitted to 
his metropolitan functions. 

Canterbury boasts an unbroken record of bishops 
from St. Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury 
(597), to Sir Frederick Temple (1896). 

In a sense it is the most important church structure 
in England. Chief interest is due not so much to its 
arcihtecture as to its vastness of scale, wealth of monu- 
ments, rare store of thirteenth century glass, and mem- 
ories of historical scenes enacted within its walls. 





SANTA MARIA NOVELLO 


FLORENCE 


Santa Maria Novello (Church of St. Mary), the 
great Dominican church erected in 1278, is another old 
Gothic structure, famous for its simple architectural 
grandeur. It is celebrated also for its paintings by 
Cimabue and Ghirlandajo’s series of frescoes of New 
‘Testament stories decorating the choir. Brunelleschi 
carved a fine crucifix for it. Santa Maria Novello is five 
minutes’ walk from its companion church, the Fran- 
ciscan Church of Santa Croce. 


[57] 


WESTMINSTER ABBEY 


LONDON 


To the remembered dead— 
The shining dead, immortal and serene, 
Soul of the earth; to beauty which hath been 
And ever is, and light of starry lives, 
That o’er the dark unvoyaged waters led 
To power that still in mightier power revives, 
To the remembered dead. 


—Woods. 


Westminster Abbey, England’s ‘‘Pantheon of Ge- 
nius,’’ and, in a peculiar sense, her national sanctuary, 
was originally the church of a Benedictine Abbey, said 
to have been built in 616 by King Sebert of Essex. In 
1049-1065, Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), who 
had a palace at Westminster, built a church on the pres- 
ent site of the Abbey, dedicating it to St. Peter, the 
Abbey’s official name being the Collegiate Church of 
St. Peter. Despite the fact that only the foundations 
were laid at the time of his death, Edward, who was 
the first king buried therein, deserves credit for the 
beautiful church. “The fact that it was his tomb at- 
tracted the attention of the later kings to the conven- 
ience and appropriateness of having a private chapel 
so near the palace. 

For the first five hundred years of its existence the 
Abbey Church was only a part of a monastery—a 
place used exclusively for worship, and not as a memo- 
rial of the dead. Only royal and ecclesiastical persons 
connected with the church were buried there. During 


[58] 


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Hist ORT CHURCHES 


these years the shrine of St. Edward remained the holi- 
est part of the Abbey. 

In the thirteenth century, Henry III reconstructed 
the church, and his successors added to it, with long 
interruptions between building, so that it was not com- 
pleted until the fifteenth century. Among the notable 
additions were the two west towers by Christopher 
Wren, and the Chapel of Henry VII, begun as a Lady 
Chapel, but completed by his successor as a mausoleum. 

Though haltingly constructed over a period of sev- 
eral centuries, the unity of style is remarkable. Heavily 
endowed and under the special protection of the kings 
of England, this celebrated edifice, ‘‘with its harmony 
of proportions, long nave, lofty ceiling, and dim relig- 
ious light from magnificent rose windows, makes a 
grand and solemn impression larger churches fail to 
leave.’’ It was disendowed as a Cathedral during the 
Reformation, at which time Edward’s Shrine was dev- 
astated, its gold and jewels having been seized by Henry 
VIII, but it was restored by Queen Mary and received 
its present organization under Queen Elizabeth. 

“Of all England’s churches,’’ says an authority, 
“none is so intimately connected with the national life 
and history as is Westminster Abbey’’—England’s 
great Temple of Fame. 

The venerable Abbey has witnessed many a brilliant 
coronation scene. Every English sovereign with the 
exception of Edward V, from William the Conqueror, 
has been crowned seated on the famed Coronation 
Chair. This chair still stands in the Chapel of Edward 
the Confessor, and under it rests the ancient Stone of 
Scone, brought from Scotland by Edward I, in 1297, in 
token of the subjugation of Scotland, and, by tradi- 
tion, the stone Jacob used as a pillow. Here the an- 


[59] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


cient regalia was kept until it was destroyed under the 
commonwealth. 


Burial in this historic church is one of England’s 
greatest honors, and truly many are the mighty ones 
who slumber as England’s remembered dead in the old 
Gothic church by the Thames. A wilderness of tombs 
and monuments crowd its pillared aisles. Close about 
the Shrine of Edward the Confessor are sepulchers of 
other kings and queens. In the elaborate Chapel of 
Henry VII, the most gorgeous of mausoleums, stand 
the sepulchers of its founder, of the haughty maiden 
queen, Elizabeth, and the lovely and unfortunate 
Mary, Queen of Scots. Here rest also, remembered by 
statues, busts and tablets, England’s famous statesmen, 
poets, courtiers, soldiers, scientists, men of letters, 
theologians, actors, musicians and artists, each group 
in its allotted corner. In the Poet’s Corner is the tomb 
of Chaucer, father of English poetry, and over it a 
memorial window depicting the pilgrimage to Canter- 
bury. There also is Gray’s monument, with its mock- 
ing epitaph inscribed at his request: 


Life is a jest, and all things show it; 
I thought so once, but now I know it. 


A bust of Longfellow is also in this corner. 

In the north cloister lies the body of General John 
Burgoyne, whose surrender to the American Army at 
Saratoga won the support of France to the cause of the 
American Revolutionists. Near by is a memorial to 
Major John Andre, erected at the time of his execution 
in far-off America. He was buried on the banks of the 
Hudson, but forty years later, at the request of the 
Duke of York, his body was taken back to England. 


[60] 











(See page 58) 


LONDON. 


TER ABBEY, 


MINS 


THE NAVE, WEST 





PIS ORG CnURGHES 


In the center of the nave under a plain black slate lie the 
remains of David Livingston, the great African mis- 
sionary and explorer. 

And among the myriad of distinguished dead lies 
one whose identity is unknown—a private, humble 
soldier—possibly in life one of the most obscure of the 
subjects of King George V, yet in death given every 
honor that a grateful king and country can bestow. 
_ He lies there, the representative of hundreds of thou- 
sands of British soldiers who gave their lives to their 
country in the mighty World War. He was the first 
unknown soldier to be so honored. All other nations 
associated with England in that terrible conflict have 


followed her example in this. 

“On the accession of James I of England and VI of 
Scotland, when the Stone of Scone had become an in- 
stitution at Westminster Abbey, the Scots found con- 
solation in the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy thus 
Englished, ‘If fate go right, where’er this Stone is 
found, the Scots shall monarchs of that realm be 
crowned.’ 

“In the meantime the Stone of Scone has remained in 
the chapel of English kings, and has only once been 
taken out of the Abbey since Edward I brought it from 
Scotland, when it was removed to Westminster Hall, 
and Oliver Cromwell was installed Protector of the 
realm enthroned upon the Seat of Majesty. “The only 
time up to the year of Edward VII’s coronation, when, 
in the memory of this generation, the stone was re- 
moved from St. Edward’s Chapel was at the first jubi- 
lee (1887) of Queen Victoria; and she is the only sov- 
ereign since the days of the Plantagenets who has ever 


[61] 


HIS DORTOMGD URC ES 


sat twice in the Coronation Chair.’’—‘“‘Roll Call of 
Westminster Abbey,’ Smith. 

The oak chair made to enclose the stone by order of 
Edward I was completed about 1300. 





CATHEDRAL 


SIENA, ITALY 


Built entirely of red, black and white marble and 
overlaid with florid ornaments of exquisite design, 
Siena Cathedral holds a distinctive place among Italy’s 
celebrated cathedrals. “Though Gothic in style, the 
dome is Etruscan or Roman, and there are no flying 
buttresses. 

Erected between 1229 and 1380, Siena is a notable 
example of an unfinished cathedral. Had its original 
plan been completed, it would have been not only the 
largest Gothic cathedral south of the Alps, but one of 
the largest of the world. Ass it stands, it is only the 
transept of the proposed building, lengthened a little, 
and surmounted by a cupola and a campanile. The 
plague which swept over Italy prevented its comple- 
tion. 

The west facade of this Duomo, Siena’s celebrated 
shrine, is considered one of the finest in Italy, and is 
richly decorated with statues of prophets and angels. 
In this it rivals the Cathedral of Orvieto (1290). A 
remarkable feature of the interior decoration is a line 
of heads of the Popes, carried around the church above 
the lower arches. Each in its separate niche, larger than 
life and crowned with the triple tiara, combined they 
record the whole history of the church. The pavement, 
inlaid in tarsia work in stone, portrays the history of 
the church before the Incarnation. 


[62] 


SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE 


PEORENCE ULALY, 


In the Piazza del Duomo of Florence stands the 
world-renowned Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, with 
its accompanying campanile, Giotto’s most beautiful 
of all bell towers, and the venerable baptistry, in which 
every true Florentine is baptized. “The Cathedral owed 
its construction to the enthusiasm and generosity of the 
citizens, as did many another of the celebrated cathe- 
drals. Plans were made in 1294, and the cornerstone 
was laid in 1298. Arnolfo, the original architect, died 
soon after the work was started and Giotto was made 
his successor. For some two hundred years the work 
continued under worthy direction. In 1421, Brunel- 
leschi (1379-1446), a Florentine, began its superb 
dome, not only a monument to its creator, but scarcely 
rivaled by any other work of the Renaissance. 


‘““That of St. Peter’s may be a prouder and a more im- 
posing structure, but it lacks the grand simplicity of 
Brunelleschi’s. It (Santa Maria del Fiore’s) may be 
less stately but it is more companionable; less impos- 
ing but more intimately inspiring.’’* 


It was Michael Angelo’s inspiration for that of St. 
Peter's. 

The facade, though in Gothic style, is modern. Its 
three large entrances are ornamented with many statues, 
bas-reliefs, and mosaics. “The exterior is celebrated for 
its marble encrustations, the interior for its wide vault- 
ing and bare simplicity. Among the many works of 





* Caffin. 
[63] 


HIS TORT CAGHURGHES 


art which call forth admiration of its majestic solem- 
nity, are its walls containing works of Della Robbia, 
Donatello, and other famous artists, and a famous 
fresco in commemoration of Dante, by Michelino. 
When Pope Pius went to Florence he said, ‘In St. 
Peter’s one thinks; in Santa Maria del Fiore one prays.” 

Because of its superb dome, the cathedral is com- 
monly referred to as ‘““The Duomo.”’ Santa Maria del 
Fiore (Our Lady of the Flower) alludes to the lily, the 
heraldic flower of Florence. 

Under the imposing dome of this celebrated church 
lie the remains of its creator. 

The campanile, Giotto’s unrivalled bell tower, be- 
gun in 1334, is in pure Italian Gothic. Its exterior is 
composed of marble of various colors in geometric de- 
signs. ‘The sides of the lowest story are enriched with 
statues and bas-reliefs by Giotto and Luca della Robbia, 
the subjects forming a veritable encyclopedia of human 
knowledge from the Creation down to its own time. 
The story above this one is decorated with niches con- 
taining exquisite statuary. [he windows of the last 
three stories, embellished with tracery corresponding to 
that of the Cathedral windows, are considered excellent 
examples of the Italian Gothic. “The tower contains 
seven bells, the largest, cast in 1705, weighs 15,860 
pounds. 

A rare architectural combination of design, strength 
and grace, stability and tenderness, adorned by Italy’s 
most famous artists of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
turies, caused Charles IV to say of this celebrated bell 
tower, “The Florentines should make a glass case for 
the campanile and exhibit it as a gem.”’ 


[64] 


His VORTEC CHURGHES 


How did this splendid church come to be built? 
Read the resolution adopted by the Council of the 
Municipality of Florence in 1294: 


“Considering that all the acts and works of a people 
who boast of an illustrious origin should bear the 
character of grandeur and wisdom, we order Arnolfo, 
director of the works of our commune, to make the 
model or design of the building which shall replace 
the Church of Santa Reparata. It shall display such 
magnificence that no industry nor human power shall 
surpass it. 

‘““A Government should undertake nothing unless in 
response to the desire of a heart more than generous, 
which expresses the heart of all its citizens united in 
one common wish. It is from this point of view that 
the architect charged with the building of our cathe- 
dral must be regarded.”’ 


Can anything better reflect the generous spirit of the 
Florentines? 





ABBEY CHURCH 


MONT ST. MICHAEL, FRANCE 


Among the imposing mass of monastic buildings, 
capping the summit of Mont St. Michael, a rocky islet 
off the western coast of France, once crowned by a 
Temple of the Druids, is a picturesque church with 
lofty Gothic spire, dating from the fifteenth century. 
The Abbey Church, founded in 709, by St. Aubert, be- 
came a noted pilgrimage resort and in the twelfth cen- 
tury was famous for its library and learned monks. In 
1203, it was burned by the soldiers of Philip Augustus. 
During the Revolution the church, rebuilt in the six- 
teenth century, was used as a prison. 


[65] 


SL APAULS 


LONDON 


Without the Tower of London and St. Paul’s what 
would London be? 

Westminster Abbey is the Church of the King and 
Government; St. Paul’s is the Church of the citizens, 
the central point for the stirring events of the City of 
London—its majestic dome, purple in the mists or 
golden in the sunlight, the emblem of London’s an- 
tiquity and present immensity. 


St. Paul’s, the largest and most magnificent of all 
London’s Protestant places of worship, and in the heart 
of one of England’s great business centers, marks the 
site of a Christian church of 610, erected by Ethelbert, 
King of Kent, and dedicated to St. Paul. From the 
ruins of this church, destroyed by fire in 1087, rose a 
finer edifice, the immediate precursor of the present 
Cathedral, known as Old St. Paul’s, and in its time the 
largest church in the country and the longest in Europe. 
The magnificent Old St. Paul’s, which was destroyed 
by fire in 1666, was of Gothic style and rich in relics 
and treasures of all kinds—pictures, frescoes, vest- 
ments, gold, silver and jewels, which the wealthy citi- 
zens-of London vied in giving. 

From the days of King Stephen the bells of Old St. 
Paul’s had summoned the citizens to discuss the news 
of the day, transact business and defend their liberties. 
Along the fashionable walk, lords and ladies and com- 
moners strolled, sometimes to stop and converse, some- 
times to engage servants, and sometimes to note the 
fashions, much as do strollers of today along Ponta 
promenades. 


[66] 














ST. PAUL'S, LONDON. 





BiSiOR Ge CHURCHES 


Sir Christopher Wren, already entrusted with plans 
for the enlargement of St. Paul’s and now commissioned 
to re-erect the ruined Cathedral, proposed the erection 
of an entirely new building. His design, in plan simi- 
lar to Old St. Paul’s, was approved by Charles II, and 
in 1675, he began the erection of the present structure, 
which was completed in 1710 under Queen Anne. 

In architectural design St. Paul’s is one of the most 
striking and best examples of English Renaissance, 
comparing favorably with St. Peter’s. ‘The plan is a 
Latin Cross surmounted by a dome, where nave and 
transept intercept. Over the western entrance is a two- 
storied portico of coupled columns supporting a pedi- 
ment. ‘The portico is flanked by two towers of dimin- 
ishing stories topped by bell-shaped cupolas. The 
dome, in mass and outline the most majestic of the 
Renaissance, is St. Paul’s chief glory, at once “‘strong, 
stately, and of airy lightness.’’ St. Paul’s dome, mod- 
eled after the Pantheon in Rome, was later copied in the 
Pantheon, Paris. 

Notable among the bells of the world is ‘‘Great 
Paul’ (cast 1881), hanging in the southwestern 
tower, considered the best bell in England, perfect in 
every respect, with soft, melodious, deep tones, sus- 
tained and continuous. It is England’s largest swing- 
ing bell and rings daily at one o'clock for five minutes. 
It weighs almost seventeen and a half tons and four 
men are required to ring it. “The old bell hanging in 
the same tower was cast in 1709. 

St. Paul’s organ, consisting of 4,822 pipes and 102 
stops, one of the finest in the world, contains parts of 
the original organ built in 1697. 

St. Paul’s, also the burial place of heroes and men 
of distinction, numbers among its illustrious dead, the 


[67] 


HiISisRORTCGHURGEES 


Duke of Wellington, Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, 
and Sir Thomas Moore. In the Painter’s Corner lie 
Benjamin West, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Edwin 
Turner, Sir John Millais, Sir Edwin Landseer and 
James Barry. 

And this mighty magnificent structure also forms a 
fitting tomb for Sir Christopher Wren, the master ar- 
chitect who designed and built it. A nearby tablet reads: 
“Si monumentum requiris, circumspice’’—(If you ask, 
where is his monument, look around you). 

Commenting on St. Paul’s, Van Renssalaer says: 


After the Norman or Romanesque period came the 
Gothic with its three successive styles. After these 
came the Renaissance period, which produced not a 
group or series of Cathedrals, but in magnificent isola- 
tion the great Church of St. Paul’s in London—not 
the last Church that has been built in Great Britain, 
but the last which reveals an architect’s genius or illus- 
trates a genuine phase of architectural development. 

Everyone knows that St. Paul’s is in London, as 
St. Peter’s is in Rome and Notre Dame in Paris. 





CATHEDRAL 


TOURS, FRANCE 


So rare was the beauty of the richly colored glass 
windows of this Cathedral, that Henry IV is quoted as 
having said that it was a jewel for which only the cas- 
ket was wanting. The facade, constructed from 1426 
to 1547, is a notable example of the flamboyant or 
waning Gothic style. Its two towers, about two hun- 
dred and thirty feet high, are of sixteenth century 
Renaissance style. 


[68] 


SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


The diocese of Old Sarum was founded in 634 by St. 
Birinus, whose See was at Dorchester. The first church 
on the bleak hilltop was erected by Herman, a Fleming 
who went to England during the reign of Edward the 
Confessor. Even in the days of St. Birinus, it was an 
old city, with Roman roads and castles, a place of im- 
portance. 

This early church was not disturbed by William the 
Conqueror, but was not a lasting edifice. Came in the 
course of time, St. Osmund as Bishop of Salisbury, 
and upon the site of the old church he built a new and 
greater one, which was consecrated April 5, 1092. 
Five days later it was assailed by a storm so terrific 
that its roof was destroyed and the entire structure 
damaged. So it was rebuilt. 

Old Sarum was really a fortress upon the hill, sur- 
rounded by a massive wall, which protected it from 
marauders, but led Peter le Blois to refer to it as ‘‘the 
Ark of God shut up in the temple of Baal.’ In dis- 
gust at its location he made the suggestion which was 
eventually carried out: “‘Let us, in God’s name, descend 
into the level.” 

Bishop St. Osmund died December 3, 1099, and was 
buried in Old Sarum. For more than a hundred years, 
the church he had reared stood like a sentinel overlook- 
ing and guarding Salisbury Plain. “Then in the days 
of Richard Poore, seventh Bishop of Sarum, it was de- 
termined to “‘descend into the level.’’ According to 
tradition an arrow was shot from a window of the 


[69] 


BIS TORT) GH Or Es 


church with the intention of building the new one 
where it fell. It must have been a stout bow that sent 
it winging, and a strong arm that drew the string, for 
the new structure was erected a full mile from the old. 
The same tradition, however, tells us that the arrow 
was guided by St. Mary, to whom the Cathedral was 
dedicated. 

Construction of the Salisbury Cathedral was begun 
with the Lady Chapel, and the first stones were laid 
April 28, 1220, by King Henry III, whose reign ex- 
ceeded half a century, and who consecrated the Cathe- 
dral thirty-eight years after he had begun its construc- 
tion. With the King himself officiating, the birth of 
the Salisbury Cathedral attracted a most distinguished 
assembly, among whom was St. Edmund, later Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. 

In the Lady Chapel, a sumptuous shrine was built 
for the body of St. Osmund, which was removed 
thereto July 23, 1457, there to repose in peace until it 
was destroyed by Henry VIII. 

The magnificent spire, the highest in England, ris- 
ing 404 feet, was constructed about a century after the 
dedication. 

Salisbury Cathedral has the distinction of having 
been the first great church to be built of a single archi- 
tectural style, and it is strictly Early English Gothic; 
uniform, harmonious, even the spire added so much 
later conforming to the general design. By some per- 
sons it is regarded as the most beautiful of all English 
Cathedrals, although its interior lacks the soft colorful 
radiance of many, and appears, in consequence, cold. 
This is due to the fact that the old and beautiful 
stained glass windows were destroyed by the Puritans 
under Cromwell. 


[70] 





SALISBURY CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. 





BUST ORley CMURGHES 


With the erection of Salisbury Cathedral, Old 
Sarum began to disintegrate and cluster about the new 
church and the old town gradually fell into ruins. St. 
Osmund’s pride disappeared, but in 1838 its founda- 
tions were uncovered, to stand a visible relic of Chris- 
tian effort eight centuries before. 


An old rhyme thus popularly describes the Cathe- 
dral: 


As many days as in one year there be, 

So many windows in this Church we see; 

As many marble pillars here appear 

As there are hours throughout the fleeting year; 

As many gates as moons one year does view— 
Strange tale to tell, yet not more strange than true.* 


In the Lady Chapel is St. Osmond’s tomb, sacred 
relic to the memory of Bishop Osmond and Old Sarum 
days. 

An impressive memorial of early worship, standing 
on Salisbury Plain (to which Old Sarum descended to 
build its Cathedral) some eight miles from Salisbury, 
is Stonehenge, a group of huge stones arranged in cir- 
cular form, suggesting a primitive place of worship. 
An inner circle of smaller stones formed the “‘inner 
cell,”’ or sanctuary, where, according to Geoffrey of 
Monmouth (1154) ancient Celts worshipped the 
Celtic God Zeus. Says Rhys, in his ‘Celtic Heathen- 
dom,”’ ‘‘What sort of temple could have been more ap- 
propriate for the primary God of light and the lumi- 
nous heavens than a spacious open-air enclosure like 
Stonehenge.” 

A third historic place of worship in Salisbury is 
St. Thomas Church, founded in 1240 by Bishop Bing- 
ham and dedicated to Thomas a Becket. Church war- 


* An “English Cathedral Journey,’’ Kimball. 
[71] 


HIGWORGCW CEU RGiih oe 


dens’ Rolls preserved in this church in an uninter- 
rupted series from the time of Henry VII to the trans- 
fer of the present system of keeping church wardens’ 
accounts confirm its antiquity. 





CHURCH OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE 


FRANCE 


The Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), Char- 
lemagne’s Royal Tomb Church (796-814), was mod- 
eled after the Court Church, St. Vitale, at Ravenna. 
There Western Emperors were crowned and there the 
great founder of the Empire was buried, in his capital 
city and favorite residence. 

The church was destroyed by the Northmen in the 
tenth century and its rebuilding and later restorations 
resulted in a combination of the Romanesque, Gothic 
and Classic architectural styles. Its marble, columns, 
pavement, and mosaics were brought from Ravenna. 
But the black marble stone bearing the name in brass, 
“Carlo Magno,’”’ no longer covers the body of the 
Emperor-Statesmen. Frederick Barbarossa, in 1166, 
caused the remains to be untombed. ‘The church took 
possession of the imperial skeleton and separating it, 
made of each bone a holy relic. ‘The sacristy of this 
church now contains the skull, arm and heart of Char- 
lemagne; the cross he wore on his neck when the tomb 
was opened, and the ornate gold plates that decorated 
his arm chair. “There also are what are reputed to be 
the cord which bound our Savior, the sponge given 
Him on the Cross and His girdle and that of the Holy 
Virgin. These sacred relics are exhibited every seven 
years. 


[72] 


(¢f abod aag) ‘sravd ,,‘SIVYGIHLYD HONAYT dO NAANO,, FHL ‘AWYC AaLON 








NOTRE DAME 


PARIS 


Harmonious parts of a great whole with their count- 
less details of sculpture, statuary and carving, power- 
fully contributing to the calm grandeur of the whole; 
as it were a vast symphony of stone, the colossal 
work of one man and one nation, a sort of human 
creation powerful and prolific as the Divine creation, 
whose double characteristic, Variety and Eternity, it 
seems to have acquired. 


—‘‘Notre Dame de Paris,” Hugo. 


For eight centuries Notre Dame, the “Queen of 
French Cathedrals,’’ has stood on its narrow islet base 
in the Seine River, in the center of Paris. Its founda- 
tion stone was laid in 1163, by Pope Alexander III, a 
refugee in France, and the main edifice was completed 
in 1240. It bears the distinction of being one of the 
earliest Gothic Cathedrals in France. Chartres followed 
in 1190; Rheims in 1208, and Amiens in 1220, the 
three other notable Gothic ecclesiastical edifices of 
northern France, further perfecting the transition of 
the “lower, heavier Romanesque into the aspiring 
Gothic—the medieval architects’ triumph of effort for 
loftiness with lightness.” 

This historic and most celebrated of the many 
churches in France, dedicated to the Virgin, is on the 
site of a Temple of Jupiter Ceranus, where a church 
had been erected in 375. ‘There is a record of two 
churches on the site, one dedicated to the Virgin and re- 
built by Childebert, about 520, in Roman or Basilican 
style. The earliest glass windows of France are reputed 


[73] 


HIST ORT YC FC RG EES 


to have been in this old church. Fragments of mosaics 
and precious marbles, discovered in excavations in 
1847, and now in Musee de Cluny, are supposed to be 
from floors and columns of the old church. It was 
then considered very grand and was the scene for cen- 
turies of religious ceremonies and royal pageants. Pil- 
laged and badly damaged by the Normans in 857, 
though repaired by devoted bishops, the twelfth cen- 
tury found it falling into ruins. Upon its ruins was 
laid the cornerstone of the present-day Church of Notre 
Dame. From 1182 to the present, its naves, altars and 
chapels have been the scenes of most of the important 
religious and political ceremonies in France. Most of 
the royal weddings took place there. There were bap- 
tized the dauphins of France, and Te Deums were sung 
in celebration of national victories. 

In 1793, the solemn and mighty Cathedral became, 
by order of the revolutionists, the “Temple of Reason’”’ 
after indescribable devastation of its majestic facade, 
windows, ornaments, etc. Bonfires were made of the 
mass books and Bibles. The twenty-eight statues of the 
kings of Israel were hacked to pieces in the belief that 
they were images of the kings of France. Turret and 
bell tower were desecrated. “The ruin was ruthless. 

For simple majesty of expression the original facade 
of Notre Dame is considered to have been unequalled 
by any other French Cathedral. Its appearance in 1830 
was such an impressive though mute denunciation of 
its many defacements that it inspired its thorough res- 
toration, from 1845 to 1855, under the direction of 
M. Viollet le Duc. 

But Victor Hugo knew the old as well as the new, 
so let us see it through his observant eyes: 


[74] 





Oe ne henge 


it aaa ate al 


pes 
Sd Lf sr i 








(See page 73) 


Interior. 


NOTRE DAME, PARIS. 





HiS bORTC™ Gru RGHES 


“The facade now lacks three important things, first, 
the eleven steps which formerly raised it above the 
level of the ground; next the lower series of statues 
which filled the niches over the doors; and lastly the 
upper row of the twenty-eight most ancient kings of 
France which adorned the gallery of the first story, 
from Childebert to Philip Augustus, each holding in 
his hand the Imperial globe. And what has become 
of the delightful little steeple which, no less fragile 
than its neighbor, the spire of St. Chapelle, rose yet 
nearer Heaven than the towers, slender, sharp, sonor- 
ous and daintily wrought. 

“Time yet has, perhaps, given to the church more 
than it took away, for it is Time that has painted 
the front with that sober hue of creation, which 
makes the antiquity of churches their greatest 
beauty.” 


Prominent among the one thousand decorative 
statues adorning the western facade, are those of the 
Virgin and Christ Child, sacred to whom are also the 
front left portal and that of the north transept—all ex- 
quisite examples of early Gothic sculpture. Through 
these massive portals passed the good King Louis IX 
(1226-1270) to pray before starting on his ill-fated 
Crusades, and through them stormed the Paris mob 
tearing down the Kings and Saints and setting up the 
Goddess of Reason. Through them in 1804 went 
Napoleon to his Coronation, and in 1810 to his mar- 
riage with Marie Louisa. 

Among striking interior features are the magnificent 
rose windows of Christ and the Virgin, surrounded by 
the prophets and the celebrated carvings of the choir 
and pulpit. Flying buttresses, “‘delicate figures of 
stone,’’ which have stood firm for eight hundred years, 
proof of the wonderful engineering skill of the old 


[75] 


HISTORICSCHURGHES 


cathedral builders, adorn the sides. Gargoyles encircle 
the towers. These hobgoblins and quaint little beasts in 
stone are among the most fascinating features of the 
sculptural adornment of this Cathedral. 





THE: ESCORTAL COURGH 


MADRID 


The Escorial (composed of a convent, palace, royal 
mausoleum and church), about thirty-one miles from 
Madrid, has a church begun by Charles V in 1563, in 
fulfilment of a vow to St. Lawrence to build a church 
because of his having been forced to cannonade one 
dedicated to this saint. “The church was completed and 
dedicated by his son, Philip II, on that saint's day, the 
anniversary of the Spanish victory over the French at 
St. Quentin, August 10, 1557. 

The plans of this group of massive, gray granite 
buildings, “‘the largest mass of granite in the world, and 
the world’s eighth wonder,” is a rectangular parallelo- 
gram six hundred seventy-five by five hundred thirty 
feet, representing the gridiron on which St. Lawrence 
was martyred. Four large towers represent the feet, 
while the church and royal palace extending to one side 
represent the handle. The interior buildings are placed 
to represent the bars. ‘The style of architecture is 
severely classical, presenting a simple, bare and bar- 
rack-like appearance. 

In the private apartments of the royal family was 
the King’s cell-like bedroom, communicating with the 
Oratory of the church and commanding a view of the 
high altar, so that, unseen, the king could participate 
in the service of the Mass. 


[76] 


SEV IEP EG ALG rE DRIAL 


SPAIN 


Seville Cathedral, not only the largest church in 
Spain, but also the largest of the medieval cathedrals, 
stands on the site of a great mosque erected by the 
Moors, who captured the city in 712. For more than 
five hundred years it remained a Moslem city, or until 
it was recaptured by Ferdinand III, of Castile, in 1248. 

This ancient Spanish city was the scene of the nota- 
ble Church Councils from 590 to 619. Its church and 
political history have been of such importance that the 
distinction given it by its massive cathedral is well-de- 
served. After the discovery of the New World, Seville 
became the mart of the colonies and the residence of 
princely merchants. The cathedral was begun in 1402, 
and not completed until 1517. “Let us,’’ reads the 
resolution adopted by the city in 1401, “‘erect such a 
cathedral that posterity will say we were madmen.” 

The high wall enclosing the sacred structure gives it 
much the appearance of a fortress. here are five naves, 
each of which is as large as a church, while in the cen- 
tral one another large cathedral could stand, so vast is 
everything connected with this edifice. 

The interior decoration is superb, showing much ex- 
travagance in ornament and excessive detailed embel- 
lishment, a characteristic of all Spanish cathedrals. A 
wealth of art treasures abounds, among them famous 
paintings of Murillo, Spain’s most beloved artist, and 
one of the great world-artists, and other famed Spanish 
artists—the chefs-d’ oeuvres of some sixty-seven sculp- 
tors and thirty-eight painters. Pavements are in black 


[77] 


HIS TORT GG Ri@iiEs 


and white checkered marble and the painted windows 
are among the handsomest in the world. 

From its earlier Moorish mosque the great cathedral 
retains, beside its beautiful Court of Oranges, La Gir- 
alda, once a minaret, now one of the world’s celebrated 
bell towers, designed by El Geber, inventor of algebra 
(1000 A. D.). Though the rest of the mosque had 
fallen into disrepair through the ravages of time and 
earthquakes, the delicately wrought minaret was so 
well preserved that the Spaniards kept it for the bell 
tower of their Cathedral. The top is capped by a small 
dome, on which, some three hundred feet from the 
ground, stands a small figure of Faith holding in one 
hand a palm and in the other the banner of Constan- 
tine. “The dome is visible at a long distance, and glit- 
ters in the sun like an enormous ruby embedded in a 
mighty crown. 

In one of the side aisles is a small marble casket rest- 
ing on the shoulders of four elaborately dressed and 
ornately equipped allegorical figures, supposed to hold 
the remains of Christopher Columbus, brought from 
Havana at the close of the Spanish-American War of 
1898. But this is disputed. When Columbus died at 
Valladolid, Spain, his body was transported according 
to his wishes to Santo Domingo. When this island 
was surrendered to the French in 1796, a casket sup- 
posed to contain his bones was taken to Havana and 
placed in the Cathedral there. It was these bones that 
were taken to Seville. 

But that they were those of Christopher Columbus 
is strongly questioned. Many historians believe that 
they were those of his son Diego. While the Cathedral 
at Santo Domingo was undergoing extensive repairs in 


[78] 


HiSvORT Cy GHURCTIIES 


1877, an ancient leaden casket was unearthed. It held 
human bones and upon the casket was the inscription, 
“These are the remains of the Discoverer of America, 
the first Admiral, illustrious and renowned man, Chris- 
topher Columbus.’’ Upon this basis and on the 
strength of some other records, the Dominican Repub- 
lic of today claims to hold the bones of the discoverer 
in its own ancient Cathedral. 

In St. Ferdinand’s Chapel, the body of King Ferdi- 
nand (1217-1252), who delivered Seville from the 
Arabs, rests in a crystal casket, clad in military dress 
with crown and royal mantle. In other chapels rest 
the bodies of other famous Spaniards in caskets of sil- 
ver, their hands bedecked with diamonds and rubies, 
amid large marble altars and statues of stone, wood and 
silver. 





RHE © EGU R@r 


VIENNA 


The Votive Church is of florid Gothic style, ex- 
quisitely proportioned, and has delicately sculptured 
openwork towers three hundred and twenty-five feet 
high, reminding one of the Cathedral of Burgos in 
Spain. [he church commemorates the escape of Em- 
peror Franz Joseph from assassination in 1853. It has 
been called Vienna’s most beautiful ecclesiastical struc- 
ture. 


St. Charles Church with its curious side-entrance 
pillars is another church of Vienna, one of the oldest 
and most historic cities of Europe. 


[79] 


ST. PETER’S 


ROME 


Enter; its grandeur overwhelms thee not; 
And why? It is not lessened; but thy mind, 
Expanded by genius of the spot 

Has grown colossal .. . 


But lo, the dome, the vast and wondrous dome, 
To which Diana’s marvel was a cell, 
Christ’s mighty Shrine above his martyr’s tomb. 


—‘‘Childe Harold,’’ Canto IV. 


St. Peter’s, at Rome, the largest church in the world, 
is a stupendous monument to the genius of Michael 
Angelo, Bramante, and to the genius of the Italian 
Renaissance. It succeeds the Basilica of San Pietro in 
Vaticano (Old St. Peter’s), which official title it still 
holds, distinguishing it from other churches in Rome 
dedicated to St. Peter. Old St. Peter’s was preserved 
through the Middle Ages, but in the fourteenth cen- 
tury began to show signs of decay. It was the ambi- 
tion and intention of Pope Julius II and of Michael 
Angelo, as early as 1505, to whom the Pope had en- 
trusted the commission of erecting his tomb, to rebuild 
Old St. Peter’s to serve as a mausoleum for the Pope. 
Julius’ successors, however, were interested only in the 
rebuilding of St. Peter’s, putting Bramante in charge 
of its plan. Bramante’s death in 1514 interrupted the 
work and also Michael Angelo’s, who was again put in 
charge of the plans in 1546. St. Peter’s was therefore 
nearly a century and a quarter in building (1506- 
1626). Raphael, too, was engaged in its construction 


[80] 





ST. PETER’S, ROME. 





HiSIVORTOACHURGHES 


and decoration. “There were many artists and many 
plans. 

Michael Angelo followed Bramante’s general plan 
of a Greek cross, but wholly re-designed the dome, 
which is generally acknowledged to be the surpassing 
grandeur of the great Renaissance Church of St. Peter’s, 
and under which is the mystic high altar, rising over 
the shrine of St. Peter, the first Bishop of Rome. This 
vast dome, the highest in the world, measures 140 feet 
to the top of the cross on the ball, which to the specta- 
tor below appears small, but which would hold a dozen 
persons. It is said that Michael Angelo’s model for 
this triumph in bold architectural beauty was the Pan- 
theon. While looking at that one day he said, pro- 
phetically, “I will raise the Pantheon to the sky. I will 
build a church and put the Pantheon on for a dome.” 

Its interior plan is one of the most impressive pieces 
of architectural decoration in existence. Priceless mo- 
saics represent the artistic production of mosaic work- 
ers whose ancestors for ten generations had handed the 
craft down from father toson. Large mosaic copies of 
paintings adorning the interior can hardly be told from 
the originals. About the walls are altars, magnificent 
tombs of Popes, chapels and innumerable works of art, 
making St. Peter’s a veritable museum of the sculpture, 
painting and decorative work of three centuries. “The 
total cost of the Cathedral has been estimated at $50,- 
000,000. 

The crypt of St. Peter’s, erected over the spot where 
it is claimed the saint was crucified, and carefully 
guarded throughout all the centuries of changes, con- 
tains many venerated fragments and relics from the 
original Basilica of St. Peter’s. Michael Angelo’s pro- 


[81] 


HIST ORIGUVCH Uh Giirs 


foundly beautiful ‘‘Pieta,’’ the work which raised him 
at the age of twenty-four to the rank of the greatest 
sculptor of his day, adorns the chapel. 


It is St. Peter’s vast cathedral, ‘“Church of Churches,’’ 
which Byron celebrates in his inimitable lines: — 


Thou of Temples old or altars new 


Standest alone, with nothing like thee. 
* * * * 


Power, Glory, Strength and Beauty all are aisled 
In this eternal Ark of Worship Undefiled. 


—“‘Childe Harold,’ Canto IV. 


St. Peter’s compares with other large churches as fol- 
lows, the figures representing square yards of area in 
round numbers: . 


St. Peters, 18,000 
Seville Cathedral, 13,000 
Milan Cathedral, 10,000 
St. Paul’s London, 9,000 
St. Sophia, 8,000 
Cologne Cathedral, 7,000 


The Church of St. Maria dei Cappuccini, Rome, 
contains Guido Reni’s “St. Michael and the Dragon.”’ 
In the Chigi Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria 
Della Pace, Rome, are Raphael’s ‘‘Sybils.”’ 





CAIRO WAL 


COMO, ITALY 


Como Cathedral is referred to as the most perfect 
building in Italy, illustrating the fusion of Gothic and 
Renaissance styles. 


[82] 


























(See page 80) 


Interior. 


ST. PETER’S, ROME. 


a4 Z fi 


wary oy ieee ve 





COLOGNE CATHEDRAL 


Cologne Cathedral, “‘celebrated for its immensity, 
beauty of proportion, and wealth of decoration,”’ is 
Germany’s most magnificent church edifice. Though 
begun in 1270, and not completed until the nineteenth 
century, it is yet a remarkable example of rare and ad- 
mirable structural unity. The original design, derived 
from Amiens Cathedral, was closely followed through- 
out. One writer characterizes Cologne Cathedral as 
“French influence mixed with German peculiarities.” 

Cologne, originally a town of German tribes, grew 
to be an important city under the Romans. Under 
Frankish rule it retained its prominence, the Bishopric 
of Cologne instituted at that time having been raised 
to the rank of an Archiepiscopal See by Charles the 
Great. It contained in its jurisdiction the capital of 
Charlemagne’s Empire, the seat where emperors were 
crowned. ‘The celebrity and wealth of the Cathedral 
were due largely to the custom of emperors to visit it 
after their coronation. 

An early church of the ninth century, burned in 
1248, is said to have preceded the present edifice. 
Apropos of this earlier church, we have the interesting 
record: 

“At the northeast end of the elevation occupied by 
the ancient Colonia Agrippina, in the spot where the 
choir of the Cathedral raises its magnificent pinnacles, 
there existed in very remote ages a Roman Castellum.”’ 

Work on the Cathedral was suspended by the Re- 
formation, and was neglected until the nineteenth cen- 
tury, at which time funds were raised and building re- 


[83] 


HISTOR TCORCG TOR Cries 


newed under the king of Prussia. Its completion in 
1880 (October tenth) was celebrated with great splen- 
dor by Emperor William I, attended by most of the 
sovereign princes. Runkart’s hymn, “‘Nun Danket 
Alle Gott,’’ the German ‘““Te Deum,”’ second only to 
Luther’s “Ein feste Burg,’’ was sung at this ceremony. 

Twin towers, five hundred twelve feet high, crowned 
with spires of openwork tracery—a characteristic of 
German Gothic—are this grand Cathedral’s chief glory. 
The “‘Kaiser-glocke,”’ the great bell of the tower, was 
cast in 1874 from cannon taken from the defeated 
French. Added to this external glory are its rows 
of massive flying buttresses, piers, pinnacles, spires, 
needles, crockets, towers, mullioned windows, portals, 
niches filled with figures, carvings and grotesque gar- 
goyles, which produce an astonishing effect. 

The chapel, in the Church of St. Ursula, Cologne, 
commemorates the life of St. Ursula, the Breton 
maiden, and the eleven hundred other maidens mas- 
sacred with her at Cologne, so the legend runs. St. 
Ursula became the patron saint of young girls and all 
women who educate and care for girls. In the Academy 
of Venice are a series of celebrated pictures by Car- 
paccio, graphically depicting the story of this saint. 

It is claimed that the Chapel of St. Ursula contains, 
besides the bones of the massacred maidens, also one 
thorn from the Crown of Thorns, a piece of the True 
Cross, and one of its nails. 

At Cologne are also the Church of the Jesuits, the 
Church of the Apostles (1220-1250), and the early 
representative Cathedrals, Spires, Tréves, and Mayence. 

The Cathedral at Worms (1110-1200) is Rhenish- 
Romanesque, in style, similar to that of northern Italy 


[84] 








(See page 83) 


Exterior and Interior Views. 


COLOGNE CATHEDRAL. 





His bON Ca CMmURGHES 


but more “‘constructively adventurous, vigorous, and 
picturesque.” 

The Cathedral at Ratisbon ranks with Cologne and 
Strassburg as one of the three finest examples of Ger- 
man Gothic. 





CATHEDRAL OF VASALI 


MOSCOW 


Facing the Red Square, Old Russia’s famous camp- 
forum and place of execution, stands the Cathedral 
of Vasali, the Beatified, unparalleled in its curious mix- 
ture of architectural styles and glaring colors. It was 
built in 1554 by Italian architects for Ivan, the Ter- 
rible, in commemoration of the Conquest of Kazan. 
It consists of a number of buildings, under separate 
cupolas, differing from each other in form, dimension 
and coloring. The interior does not differ essentially 
from other churches of Moscow, being dark, close, and 
covered with paintings, gold and gems in great pro- 
fusion. — 


In striking contrast with the Cathedral is the modern 
Church of the Saviour, Moscow’s most magnificent 
church, consecrated in 1881 in commemoration of the 
destruction of Napoleon’s Grand Army in 1812, and 
the expulsion of the French from Russia. Majesty of 
proportion and elegance of structure characterize this 
delicate, cream stone building. Its plan is a Greek 
cross, with five magnificent domes decorated with 
paintings of the Trinity, executed by Russia’s ablest 
artists. A frieze of life-size figures adorns the walls. 


[85] 


MARTIN LUTHER’S CHURCH 


(SCHLOSS-KIRCHE) WITTENBERG 


In Wittenberg, the “Protestant Mecca,’’ are two 
churches sacred to Martin Luther, known as Stadt- 
Kirche, in which the great Saxon reformer often 
preached, and Schloss-Kirche, on the wooden doors of 
which Luther nailed his famous Thesis on the eve of 
All Saints Day, November 1, 1517. Schloss-Kirche 
(All Saints Church, erected 1493-1499) was closely 
connected with the University in which Luther was 
Professor of Theology. 

The old church was seriously damaged by bombard- 
ment in 1760, and again in 1813-14, and restored in 
1885. Present interior decorations in the form of stat- 
uary, medallions, and coats of arms commemorate the 
heroes of the Reformation. In front of the pulpit are 
bronze plates with Latin inscriptions, indicating the 
graves of Luther (1483-1546), and his comrade in the 
faith, Melanchthon (died 1560). Below the gallery 
in huge letters are the words, “‘Ein’ Feste Berg’ (A 
Mighty Fortress), opening words of Luther’s favorite 
hymn. 

The famous wooden doors, burned in 1760 by the 
French, were replaced in 1858 by bronze doors ten feet 
high, bearing the original Latin text of the ninety-five 
Theses. 

In Stadt-Kirche, the larger of the two Wittenberg 
churches, Luther often preached in place of the regular 
pastor. “It was his preaching here that made him as 
absolute ruler over the people at Wittenberg as Chrys- 
ostom was at Antioch and Constantinople, Calvin at 


[86] 


























WITTENBERG. 


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His VOR GHURCHES 


Geneva, and, we may add, Knox at Edinburgh,”’ says 
a historian of Luther and his times. 

A nearby bronze statue, erected in 1822, occupies 
the site of a chapelcontaining a pulpit of planks 
where according to tradition, the Reformer sometimes 
preached. 

“The Marseillaise hymn of the Reformation,’’ as 
Heine calls Luther’s hymn ‘Ein’ feste Burg ist unser 
Gott,’’ was composed by Luther for the Diet of Spires, 
when, on April 20, 1529, the German princes made 
their formal protest against the revocation of their 
liberties and so became known as Protestants. Luther 
sang it to the accompaniment of the lute every day. 
Nearly a hundred years later Gustavus Adolphus, the 
hero-king of Sweden, ordered the kettledrums and 
trumpets to strike up and his warriors to sing Luther's 
hymn as they rode into battle (November 16, 1632). 
After his victory, the great general thanked God that 
He had made good the promise, “The field, He will 
maintain it.” 

Thomas Carlyle’s English version (one of the sev- 
eral of this celebrated hymn) is generally regarded as 
the best. ‘The hymn may have been suggested by the 
Forty-sixth Psalm, but it is really Luther’s hymn, not 
David’s,’’ says one. Frederick the Great called Luther's 
hymn “God Almighty’s Grenadier March.”’ 

In this connection it is interesting to note the great 
German reformer’s “‘idea’’ of hymns and hymn sing- 
ing: 

““The words of hymns should have a swing and a good 
strong meter, so that the congregation may catch up 
the tune to join with it. Let us bid goodbye to the 


music of Gregory and take the common songs of our 
own people, as they sing them at harvests, at village 


[87] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


festivals, at weddings, and at funerals, for use in our 
Churches. Man can as well praise God in one tune as 
in another, and it is a pity that such pretty songs as 
these should be kept any longer from the service of 
the Maker.”’ 


“Verzage Nicht, du Hauflein,’’ composed by Pastor 
Altenburg at Erfurt, became known as ‘‘Gustavus 
Adolphus’ Battle Hymn.” It, too, was sung at the 
Battle of Lutzen (November 16, 1632) where victory 
gave fresh courage to the Protestants of Germany when 
their faith was thus rewarded. 


Fear not, O little flock, the foe, 

Who madly seeks your overthrow, 

Dread not his rage and power— 
* * * * 

God is with us. We are His own, 

Our victory cannot fail. 





SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE 


VENICE 


Santa Maria Della Salute, on the Grand Canal, 
erected 1630-1680 of Renaissance style of architecture, 
is a memorial to the Virgin as Our Lady of Health or 
Safety, in acknowledgement of the cessation of a de- 
vastating plague. It was one of the first buildings of 
the grotesque Renaissance, but, because of its facade, 
and the graceful flight of steps leading down to the 
Canal, it was chosen by Turner for the principal object 
of his well-known view of the Grand Canal. ‘Tin- 
toretto’s ‘‘Marriage in Cana,”’ one of his best and most 
highly finished paintings, adorns the sacristy of this 
church, 


[88] 


‘[eurD pULIDH ssolde WOT} SI MatA JOWEXY ef, “AOINHA ‘ALNTVS VIIEC VIUVW VINYS 


























GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


At Gloucester, an important Saxon town, a favorite 
residence of Norman kings, and the seat of eight Parlia- 
ments, is a fine Cathedral, in architectural style proceed- 
ing from severe Anglo-Saxon to the richest Gothic. 
The assemblage of the whole, though successively 
erected during a period of four hundred years, is grand 
and harmonious. Its superb central tower, two hun- 
dred twenty-five feet high, is one of the three famous 
square towers in England, the others being those of 
Canterbury and Lincoln. ‘This tower is its most im- 
pressive and beautiful external feature. 

As early as 681 a Norman church (later developing 
into a flourishing double establishment for monks and 
nuns), occupied the site. In 1051 Edward the Con- 
fessor, while visiting Gloucester, granted Bishop Aldred 
land for a Cathedral similar to his Cathedral at West- 
minster, which he was then erecting. “The Cathedral 
of St. Peter which Abbot Serlo, the Conqueror’s chap- 
lain, its second builder, then erected (1072-1104) was, 
with additions, Gloucester Cathedral, much as it stands 
today. 

Beside the distinction of its lovely square central 
tower, Gloucester Cathedral has the glory of its cele- 
brated East Window, flooding the choir with its jew- 
eled lights, the largest in England, exceeding York’s 
window by a few square feet of area. Restored in 
1682, this window of six center and eight side lights 
shows window painting as executed between 1347 and 
1350, the date ascribed to it because of the heraldic 


[89] 


HIS PORTO MGR Git 


shields in the tower lights, apparently inserted by the 
survivors of the great English victory at Cressy and 
accounting for the name “‘Cressy’’ or ‘‘Calais’’ win- 
dow, sometimes applied to it. “The subject of the 
painting is the Coronation, attending figures being 
saints, kings, abbots, apostles and angels. Of this in- 
describably beautiful window one writes: 


Beautiful as a dream with its soft silvery light, faintly 
colored with jeweled shafts of the richest blue and red 
and here and there a vein of pale gold, this vast win- 
dow could not be seen out of England or, at least, one 
of the grey and misty northern countries, where 
gleams of light or shafts of sunshine are exceedingly 
precious. 


2 


Three cherished monuments adorn Gloucester. One, 
a rudely sculptured figure, is a monument to Osric, an- 
cient Saxon viceroy. The second is the tomb of Duke 
Robert of Normandy (the eldest son of the Con- 
queror), and the third, in the North Ambulatory, the 
tomb of Edward II. Murdered at Berkeley Castle, near 
Bristol in 1327, and refused burial elsewhere, Abbot 
Thokey gave him sumptuous burial at Gloucester. 
Later his son, Edward III, erected the tomb, which be- 
came a noted shrine, offerings at which greatly in- 
creased the monastery’s revenues. 

The Whispering Gallery, a narrow gallery seventy- 
four feet long, three feet wide and six high, in which 
the lowest whisper, if uttered close to the wall, or the 
slightest scratch of a pin, is heard at the other end, has 
this significant inscription on its wall: 


Doubt not that God who sits on high, 
The secret prayer can hear, 


[90] 





GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. Interior and Exterior Views. 
(See page 89) 





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HUSSHONTCMGrURGHES 


When a dead wall, thus cunningly, 
Conveys soft whispers to the ear. 


The lines were said to have been written by Maurice 
Wheeler, head master of King School. 

Of the days of the suppression of monasteries and 
their conversion into Cathedrals by Henry VIII, one 
writes thus romantically and regretfully of Gloucester, 
and its famed Benedictine Abbey: 


The Abbey which had existed for more than eight 
centuries in poverty and in wealth, in meanness and 
magnificence, in misfortune and success finally suc- 
cumbed to the royal will. The last Mass was sung, 
the last censor waved, the last congregation knelt in 
rapt and lowly adoration before the altar there, and 
doubtless, as the last tones of that day’s evensong died 
away in the vaulted roof, there were not wanting 
those who lingered in the solemn stillness of the old 
massive pile and who, as the lights disappeared one by 
one, felt there was a void, which could never be filled, 
because their old Abbey with its beautiful services, its 
frequent means of Grace, its hospitality to strangers, 
and its loving care of God’s poor had passed away like 
a morning dream and was gone forever. 





THE CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA 


In 1492, after almost eight centuries of Moslem rule, 
Granada, the last stronghold of the Moor, surren- 
dered under Boabdil, the last Moorish king. In 1520, 
the Cathedral of Granada was begun, “‘Spain’s earliest 
and most remarkable of Renaissance Cathedrals,’”’ orig- 
inally designed in Gothic style, by Enrique de Egas. 

Spanish Renaissance cathedrals are also to be found 
at Jaen and Valladolid. 


[91] 


LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


Lincoln Cathedral, whose Angels’ Choir has been 
pronounced one of the loveliest of man-made works, 
is an example of early Gothic architecture, dating from 
the days when Bishop Hugh of Avalon went to Eng- 
land from his cell in Grand Chartreuse, where he had 
planned to end his days. 

It is the second church to have occupied this site, the 
first having been built by St. Remegius, an almoner 
brought over and made bishop by William the Con- 
queror. St. Remegius (Remy) began his Cathedral in 
1088 and finished it in 1092, but died two days before 
its consecration. He dedicated it to “The Virgin of 
Virgins.”’ “This first Norman church was destroyed by 
an earthquake in 1185, and Bishop Hugh began the 
present Cathedral in 1192. The western front com- 
memorates the life of St. Remy in elaborate carvings 
and sculpture. Interesting parts of the original church 
may yet be seen in the west front and the bay of the 
nave. In the southwest corner is the ancient font of 
the founder. The Stone of Remegius marks the place 
where he is buried. In 1200 Bishop Hugh died, leav- 
ing as a monument to his architectural genius the plan 
of the Cathedral and St. Hugh’s Choir, which he lived 
to complete. 

This Choir is celebrated for its beautiful wall arcad- 
ing adorned with devout sculptured angels. St. Hugh 
was buried in one of his chapels. He was carried to his 
final resting place on the shoulders of King John at- 
tended by a great body of nobles and church dignitaries. 


[92] 








LINCOLN CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. 


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HIS TORIG. CHURCHES 


The old Lincoln legend of his burial is quaintly re- 
corded in the familiar lines: — 


A’ the bells of Merrie Lincoln 
Without men’s hands were rung, 
And a’ the books o’ Merrie Lincoln 
Were read without man’s tongue; 
And ne’er was such a burial 

Sin’ Adam’s day begun. 


In the western transept, completed after St. Hugh’s 
death, are two early English rose windows of rare old 
stained glass, known as the “‘Bishop’s Eye’’ and the 
““Dean’s Eye.’’ The glass of the latter is said to be 
older than that of Canterbury. The subject of this 
window is the Church on Earth and the Church in 
Heaven. 

The five small lancet windows below, known as the 
“Five Little Sisters,’’ contain rare grisaille of early date. 

The Angel’s Choir, added in 1255-1280, was con- 
structed to contain the shrine of St. Hugh. It was on 
October 6, 1280, that the chest, “‘covered with gold 
and studded with pearls and other precious stones,’’ at- 
tended by a royal pageant led by King Edward I and 
Queen Eleanor, his Spanish bride, was placed in this 
famous Choir of decorated Gothic, in which ten years 
later a monument to Queen Eleanor herself was erected. 
She had died near Lincoln and was embalmed there. 
From Lincoln, the King then began his long journey 
to Westminster for her burial, Eleanor Crosses having 
been erected at each halting place. 

The Angels’ Choir takes it name from the exqui- 
sitely sculptured angels decorating its triforium sug- 
gested, perhaps, by the angels in the original St. Hugh’s 
Choir. 


[93] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


In the Central Tower hangs “‘Great Tom” of Lin- 
coln, cast in 1834 and hung in 1835. “‘Great Tom the 
First’’ cast in 1610, was probably preceded by one or 
more ‘Great Toms,’’ since a record of 1311 refers to 
ropes for two bells, and even earlier records (1173- 
1182) to duas companas grandes atque sonoras. Of 
the six Lady bells, taken down in 1834 to be sacrificed 
as extra metal for the recasting of Great Tom, three 
were dated 1593; one 1633, and one 1737. This re- 
markable bell, weighing five tons eight hundredweight, 
is the fourth largest bell in the kingdom. It is too 
heavy to ring the hours without endangering the tower, 
so it was chained and riveted down and is now struck 
by a hammer weighing 224 pounds. The name was 
taken, tradition says, from its original consecration to 
St. Thomas of Canterbury. It is thought, however, 
by some to have been derived from the old bell of 
Christ Church, Oxford (at one time in the diocese of 
Lincoln), bearing the curious inscription. “In Thomas 
Laude, resono Bim Bom sine fraude.”’ 





CATHEDRAL OF MONREALE 


SICILY 


Monreale Cathedral, near Palermo, overrun by the 
Moors in the tenth century, shows a mixture of Byzan- 
tine and Saracenic (or Moorish) styles. It is Basilican 
in style and is decorated in the interior with mosaics of 
Biblical subjects, framed in arabesque borders, whose 
somber richness of color and severity of design impart 
to the interior a solemn grandeur. 


[94] 





(See page 92) 


Interior. 


LINCOLN CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. 








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DURHAM CATHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


Durham is the most beautifully situated of all Eng- 
lish Cathedrals, as it reposes on a densely wooded cliff, 
which gives it a peculiar picturesque charm. It marks 
the site of the shrine of St. Cuthbert, one of the three 
great English saints and the great Patron Saint of Dur- 
ham. ‘The first church was built in 995, on the spot 
designated by St. Cuthbert himself, as the tradition 
goes. [his structure was of wood, “‘a shelter of woods 
and branches to protect the body of the saint.”’ It was 
followed by a second one of stone, which stood until 
the time of William the Conqueror, about which time 
the old monastic congregation of St. Cuthbert, a Ben- 
edictine monastery, was established. 

Foundation stones of the great Anglo-Norman 
Cathedral were laid in 1093. When completed, the 
Cathedral had much the same appearance as today. 

The Nine Altars Chapel, near the Shrine of St. 
Cuthbert, the supreme ornament of the choir, is one of 
the Cathedral’s chief features. High on the northwest 
turret is the Dun Cow, a panel of sculptured figures of 
a milkmaid and cow, celebrating the ancient legend con- 
nected with the selection of this site as the final resting 
place of the saint’s bones. Borne about aimlessly on 
the shoulders of the monks of Lindisfarne, after resting 
elsewhere for two hundred years, so runs the legend, a 
dun cow had finally directed their final disposition at 
Durham. 

Galilee Chapel, a most beautiful example of the 
transitional Norman style, whose “‘lightness and deli- 


[95] 


HIS TORICSGHURGHES 


cacy of structure contrasts pleasingly with the massive 
grandeur of the Norman Cathedral behind,”’ also bears 
remembrance of the Patron Saint. At a certain spot in 
its pavement is a ‘‘Cross of Blewe Marble,”’ indicating 
the limit of woman’s approach to the altar. No woman 
was suffered to go beyond the cross, ““because there was 
never woman came, where holie man Sancte Cuthbert 
was.” 

On the north door of the old Cathedral is a curious 
sanctuary knocker, a grotesque metallic head holding a 
ring in its mouth. Above this door in olden days re- 
lays of monks watched night and day. Any criminal 
whose hands once grasped the ring was immediately 
granted “St. Cuthbert’s Peace,’’ and given the protec- 
tion of his shrine. Confession was taken in writing. 
If not pardoned within thirty-seven days, the criminal 
was conveyed in safety across the seas. 

In Neville Chapel, rests Lord Neville, victor of the 
Battle of Neville Cross in 1346. In this battle the 
banner of St. Cuthbert (made from a cloth which the 
saint had used in celebrating Mass), was carried as a 
standard. Since then a thanksgiving hymn sung from 
the Cathedral tower, marks each anniversary. 

In Durham, “‘half Church of God, half castle ’gainst 
the Scot,’’ rests also the venerable Bede, monk of Jar- 
row, great Northumbrian scholar and historian, con- 
temporary and friend of St. Cuthbert. From the 
eighth to the eleventh century, his bones reposed at 
Jarrow. In 1022, they were lifted and placed in St. 
Cuthbert’s “‘hospitable coffin.’”’ On the tomb is en- 
graved the well-known epitaph:—‘‘Hoc sunt in fossa 
Bedae Venerabilis ossa.”’ 


[96] 


“SMITA TOWIIXY pure JOWsUuy “ANWIONY “TYSAdHHLVYD WYHYNG 





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MILAN CATHEDRAL 


MILAN, ITALY 


Milan, the second largest city in Italy, is particularly 
famous for its fine churches. Of these the principal one 
is the world-renowned Duomo of Milan, the most im- 
portant example of the Gothic style in Italy, and an 
ecclesiastical structure ranking favorably with St. 
Peter’s of Rome and the Cathedral Santa Maria del 
Fiore in Florence. Begun in 1387, Milan Cathedral 
required fifteen generations of builders, and is not yet 
complete. 

This vast church, constructed entirely of white Car- 
rara marble, is distinguished not so much by structural 
grandeur or historic interest as by decorative richness, 
adorned as it is by some one hundred thirty-five pin- 
nacles and more than two thousand statues, a variety 
of carvings of unsurpassable beauty. More than sixty- 
seven hundred sculptured figures have at one time 
adorned the Cathedral, a marble population that given 
life would make an important city. 

In contemplating this magnificent Cathedral, with 
its splendid, towering spire designed by Brunelleschi in 
1440, one is awed by the myriad of statues, figures, 
groups and pinnacles in marble, each of the latter sur- 
mounted by a figure of life size; and high above them 
all the figure of the Mother of Jesus, a veritable laby- 
rinth of human art. 

The design of the facade, in Renaissance style, is 
simple. It is pierced by five doors and eight windows 
and delightfully embellished with canopied niches 
holding statues and delicate lace-like decorations. A 


[97] 


MISO RT@AG TU errs 


notable feature of the facade is the great door with its 
sculptural panels representing the creation of Eve. 
Other events are depicted in stone on the side panels. 

In the interior the general impression is that of a 
simple and religious majesty. Immense columns twelve 
feet in diameter are adorned above their capitals with 
statues in niches. “The great windows of the choir, said 
to be the largest in any Gothic cathedral, are of stained 
glass of 1844. In the center of the cross. through an 
opening surrounded by a balustrade, one looks down 
on the crypt holding the remains of St. Borromeo, most 
revered saint of the district, reposing in a crystal coffin 
covered with plates of silver. His virtues during the 
plague in Milan keep his memory alive. 

In 1805, Milan Cathedral sanctified the coronation 
of Napoleon with the Iron Crown—a broad plain 
hoop of gold set with precious stones and containing 
on its inner side a flattened nail reputed to be of the 
True Cross brought from Palestine by St. Helena, the 
mother of Constantine. Forty-three monarchs are said 
to have had this circlet of the Longobardi kings placed 
on their heads; the German emperors from the thir- 
teenth century having been crowned with it as kings of 
Italy. 

With the completion of the Cathedral of St. John 
the Divine, New York City, Milan Cathedral will yield 
to this new world house of worship its present rank 
as the world’s third largest Christian church. 


[98] 














Se en ae 











(See page 97) 


Interior. 


MILAN CATHEDRAL, ITALY. 





ST. GERVAIS 


SWITZERLAND 


It has been aptly said that the Reformation, like the 
Rhine, had its source in the mountains of Switzerland; 
derived its tributaries from France and Germany, and 
then flowed on to fertilize the plains of Holland. 

In Geneva, Switzerland, home of the Reformation, 
and City of Refuge, within whose walls the distressed 
and afflicted of all peoples have ever found shelter, are 
two historic churches. In St. Gervais, said to be the 
oldest, is a tablet bearing the names of the eighteen 
brave citizens sacrificed to the repulse of the Escalade, 
that last attempt of the Duke of Savoy to bind once 
more politically and spiritually the people of Geneva, 
which event Geneva celebrates every year on the twelfth 
of December, as the “‘Feast of the Escalade.” 

St. Pierre is another of Geneva’s celebrated churches, 
and in it some pages of history were written. In by- 
gone days a bishop presided at its altar. It was the scene 
of disputations over the Reformation, and in it col- 
leges held their graduation exercises. Even today the 
newly elected Councillors of State repair to it to take 
the oath of allegiance to the Constitution. 

Near the choir, in a chapel, is a massive sarcophagus 
and statue, marking the resting place of Henri, Duc de 
Robah; Marguerite de Sully, his wife, and their son 
Tancred. They were Huguenot refugees who found 
in Geneva a sanctuary where they could live in peace 
and safety. There is also a tablet on the wall of the 
nave which notes the death in exile of Theodore 
Agrippa d’Aubigne, marshal and admiral of France. 


[99] 


HISTORIC. CHURCHES 


As the old year wanes people throng to the Cour de 
St. Pierre to hear the ancient bell in the tower “‘ring out 
the old, ring in the new”’ year and exchange happy 
New Year greetings. 

Another celebrated monument in Geneva, closely 
connected with church history, is the Reformer’s 
Statue. Prominent figures in it are Calvin and Knox. 
Close by stands that of Roger Williams, and near him 
the graven words of the Mayflower Compact together 
with a relief of William Brewster, John Carver, Miles 
Standish and William Bradford. 

In Geneva is also a simple Council Chamber, known 
as the Alabama Room, where the arbitration treaty be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain, settling 
what is known as the Alabama Dispute, was signed in 
1878. ‘This quiet room is hallowed also as the birth- 
place of the Red Cross, for here was signed in 1864, at 
the Convention of Geneva, the compact that carries the 
transposed cross of Switzerland over all the world, 
bringing relief to the wounded and comfort to the 
dying. 





JERUSALEM CHURCH 


BRUGES 


Jerusalem Church at Bruges, erected in 1435, is a 
quaint church, said to have been built at the expense 
of two devout families who wished it to be an exact 
reproduction of the Holy Sepulcher. Although they 
made two journeys to the Holy Land for this purpose, 
the similarity of the two churches is not striking. 


[100] 
































ST. PIERRE, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND. Interior. (See page 99) 





GATDEDRAL 


PISA, ITALY 


The Cathedral of Pisa, consecrated in 1118, stands 
a votive offering of the Pisans in commemoration of a 
naval victory near Palermo in 1063. At that time six 
vessels of materials were sent home and appropriated 
to the building. “The Cathedral, thus erected as a mon- 
ument of gratitude, represents a high development of 
the Romanesque (1000-1200) style of architecture, 
which began with imitation of the Roman Basilica and 
was at first exceedingly bare and somber. As the style 
developed, vaulting took the place of the flat ceiling 
of the Basilica and transepts were introduced, forming 
a Latin cross. By the eleventh century the Romanesque 
architecture of Italy was strongly influenced by the 
Byzantine type of decoration. 

The Cathedral is constructed of white marble orna- 
mented with black and colored bands. Two of its pil- 
lars were souvenirs from the Temple of Diana at 
Ephesus. 

Two other celebrated buildings complete the trio, of 
which the Cathedral is one part,—the Baptistry and the 
Leaning Tower, both also Romanesque. The Tower, 
or campanile, was begun in 1174 and finished in 1350, 
and was intended to rival that of Venice. It is of white 
marble, and has walls thirteen feet thick at the base, 
and rises in eight stories to a height of one hundred and 
eighty feet. A stairway of three hundred steps leads 
to the top. 

It has never been determined whether this campanile 
being out of perpendicular was intended or accidental. 


[101] 


HIS TORTG GH UINGHES 


In any event it slants so that for centuries it has been 
more than thirteen feet out of plumb. To this fact it 
owes its fame and its inclusion among the Seven Won- 
ders of the World. Galileo, a Pisan, used it for his ex- 
periments to determine the velocity of falling bodies. 

In recent years the tower has been leaning farther 
and farther, until now it is more than fourteen feet 
out of line, and in danger of falling. “The government 
has appointed a commission to replace the foundations 
and anchor it, a delicate piece of engineering. 

In the Cathedral which, at the transept is three hun- 
dred and eleven feet long and two hundred and thirty- 
seven feet wide, hangs a celebrated lamp, known as 
Galileo’s lamp, because, it is said, its swaying suggested 
to the distinguished scientist the swinging of a pen- 
dulum. 





HOLYROOD CHAPEL 


EDINBURGH 


In Edinburgh is Holyrood Chapel, which, next to 
Melrose Abbey, is perhaps the most familiar of the 
ancient church buildings of Scotland. Of this one- 
time extensive Augustinian monastery (established by 
David I in 1128), with its great church, spacious clois- 
ters, and far-reaching cluster of ecclesiastical buildings, 
nothing is left but a part of the church to recall its 
romantic days, ‘“‘when its forests, well stocked with all 
kinds of game, offered excellent opportunities for the 
chase and so became a favorite resort of its royal 
founder.” 


[102] 








(See page 101) 


LEANING TOWER AND CATHEDRAL OF PISA, ITALY. 


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‘TTOLEDO CATHEDRAL 


SPAIN 


A cathedral; majestic, beautiful of exterior, the 
pride of the city, yet whose greatest glories lie within its 
walls, is that of Toledo, the ancient Moorish Capital 
of Spain. It is one of the three renowned cathedrals in 
that country so rich in history, that typified the middle 
period of Spanish Gothic architecture (1225-1425). 

The Toledo Cathedral was begun in 1227. It was 
modeled after French cathedrals, but designed to sur- 
pass them. It is built entirely of milky-white stone 
from quarries in the vicinity. It excels in area the 
structures that served as models, but its interior is not 
so high as are those of the cathedrals of Amiens, 
Rheims and Beauvais. 

But it is a massive building. Eighty-eight pillars, 
each composed of sixteen spindle-shaped columns, sup- 
port its roof. A soft, mysterious light that comes from 
the blending of the sun’s rays as they stream through 
windows of vari-colored glass stirs the heart and mind 
to solemn thought and religious emotion. ‘There are 
sculptured figures and paintings of superb art and im- 
mense value, while gold and color blend in a harmony 
of magnificence. 

Among Toledo’s forty chapels is the famous Mozar- 
abic Chapel, noted in Ibanez’s “In the Shadow of the 
Cathedral,’’ adorned with frescoes celebrating the com- 
bats of the Toledans and Moors. Lateral frescoes 
record in picture the story of the ships which brought 
the Arabs to Spain. In the ‘“‘Chapel of the Virgin,”’ 
resplendent in a richness of polished porphyry, jasper, 


[103] 


HIS TORIC CHURCHES 


yellow and violet breccia, surpassing the splendors of 
the ‘““Thousand and One Nights,’”’ is preserved the 
famous statue of Our Lady of Toledo. For her ward- 
robe the cathedral treasures inimitable brocades, cloth 
of gold, silver, damasks, marvelous laces, priceless 
jewels, and gem-bedecked robes, together with gigantic 
candlesticks, exquisitely embroidered banners, and 
monstrances of diamonds, sacred to the celebration of 
her Holy Mass. Among the treasures are also many 
of El Greco’s masterpieces, ““The strange Byzantine 
Greek, who drifted to Toledo and in his forty years 
there became more Spanish than the Spaniards.” 

In this old Cathedral at Toledo, Spain’s ancient 
“‘hundred-towered city on the golden Tagus’’ con- 
vened (400-701 A. D.) eighteen Church Councils of 


great political and ecclesiastical influence. 





ST. ROCH’S 


PARIS 


St. Roch’s, another of the historic churches of Paris, 
was erected by Louis XIV, in 1653, upon the site of 
three earlier chapels, one of them named St. Roch’s. 
The other chapels were dedicated to the five wounds 
of the Savior and to St. Suzanne. On the steps of this 
old church, Napoleon and his troops, on October 5, 
1795, faced the insurgent sectionnaires. Its walls still 
show holes made by grapeshot from Napoleon’s can- 
non, some of the first grapeshot to be used. In its old 
churchyard are buried La Notre, renowned gardener of 
Versailles, and Abbe d’L’Espee, inventor of the deaf 
and dumb alphabet, on whose monument the alphabet 
is engraved. ‘The church holds special services for the 
deaf and dumb in his memory. 


[104] 

















(See page 103) 


TOLEDO CATHEDRAL, SPAIN. 





CHARTRES CATHEDRAL 


FRANCE 


I gaze round on the windows, Pride of France, 
Each the bright gift of some mechanic guild, 
Who loved its city and thought gold well spent 
To make her beautiful with piety. 


Thus Lowell eulogizes Chartres Cathedral, ‘““The 
House of Prayer,’’ and its celebrated windows, whence 
he went “‘to feed his eye’ and give to fancy one clear 
holiday in the ‘‘Minister’s vast repose.’’ ‘To this, an- 
other of the great Gothic churches, which, “‘like gigan- 
tic carved jewels dot the surface of northern France,”’ 
belongs the distinction of having some of the most 
beautiful stained-glass windows to be found in Europe. 
Its one hundred and forty-six windows (originally 
some one hundred and sixty of perfect form, says 
Larned), of prevailing blue and violet tones in cycle 
form, represent the thirteenth century's most perfect 
stained glass. In this respect Chartres vies with Sainte 
Chapelle, whose rare windows have been so remark- 
ably restored, as also to give an excellent idea of the best 
period of the stained glass of medieval cathedral fame. 

Chartres Cathedral was begun in 1190 and conse- 
crated in 1260. The magnificent choir screen, with 
over forty sculptural groups of representative scenes in 
the life of the Madonna and Christ, was begun in 1514 
and completed two centuries later. Its exquisite sculp- 
ture has been likened to point lace in stone. The cele- 
brated windows, alluded to by Lowell in his poem, each 
commemorate some guild or trade—armorers, shoe- 
makers, weavers, etc.,—whose workers are thus remem- 


[105] 


AH PSVO RA Ce Xe bia aC reas 


bered by their gifts to the Cathedral. Some thought or 
characteristic emblem of each trade was worked into the 
design. During the World War (1914-1918) the win- 
dows, like other treasures, suffered. Chartres Cathe- 
dral was one of the historic churches of Europe in- 
cluded in the official report which estimated the de- 
struction of 264 villages, with 38,230 houses and 225 
churches. 

In the Cathedral of Beauvais, the choir of which is 
the loftiest in the world, are also stained-glass windows 
executed at the very best period of the art. ‘The glass 
adorning the roses or wheels in the north and south 
ends of the transept is believed to have been the work 
of John and Nicholas Lepot. In the north window 
the glass is exceedingly brilliant, representing the sun 
diffusing its rays in the middle of a deep-blue sky 
studded with stars. In the lights beneath this rose are 
placed figures of female saints. 





ABBEWO GOURGE 


ST. DENIS, PARIS 


St. Denis, a suburb of Paris, is noted for its beautiful 
Abbey Church, one of the finest examples of Gothic 
architecture in France. It stands on the site of a church 
built in the seventeenth century by Dagobert, used as 
a mausoleum for rulers of France until the Revolution. 
In 1793, the church was badly damaged and the bodies 
removed from the royal tombs. Later it was restored 
to its former grandeur. Napoleon founded in St. 
Denis an institution for the free education of women 
related to officers of the Legion of Honor. 


[106] 














CHARTRES CATHEDRAL, FRANCE. Interior and Exterior Views. 
(See page 105) 


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RHEIMS CATHEDRAL 


FRANCE 


Rheims bears the distinction of being the place of 
coronation of the French kings from Philip Augustus 
(1179) down to Charles X. Religious interest has 
centered about Rheims since 496, when it was the scene 
of the baptism of Clovis and his chief officers by Bishop 
St. Remy, the Cathedral having been built upon the 
traditional site of the event. “The most prominent 
place in the sculptural work of the facade is given toa 
pictorial representation of this historic incident, re- 
peated in smaller figures and detail elsewhere. In 1429, 
Jeanne d’Arc conducted the Dauphin, young Prince 
Charles VII, to Rheims, for coronation at the altar, an- 
other incident in French history adding richly to the 
romantic associations of the Cathedral of Coronation, 
“Best Beloved Shrine in France.’’ A statue of the War- 
rior Maid of Orleans, commemorating this event, 
stands before the entrance. 

Its elaborate west facade is exquisitely decorated 
with statues of kings and queens, an original band of 
five hundred. Because of its arcaded niches of rare deli- 
cacy and beauty and a matchless rose window, Rheims 
vies with Amiens as the “Parthenon of Gothic Archi- 
tecture.’ Its Gallery of Kings at the highest part of 
the facade is justly celebrated. Says Larned in 
“Churches and Castles of Medieval France’: 

“The figures of these monarchs are so majestic in 
their expression, so grandly conceived, so imposing in 
form, so perfectly placed in their towering niches 
crowned by pinnacles most richly ornamented, that 


[107] 


HIS VORTC  GHURGHES 


they do succeed in bringing to the mind an almost ir- 
resistible conviction that kings are nearer Heaven than 
other people. “This is not the most inspiring thought a 
church could give, but it was well to suggest it here 
over the entrance to the place of the coronation of the 
kings of France.”’ 

Scarcely less beautiful is its north porch with its 
equally remarkably wrought sculptures and the pro- 
cession of saints and angels extending all around the 
exterior of the Cathedral “‘like the frescoes of Flandrin 
in St. Germain des Pres.’’. In the center of the pave- 
ment is a narrow intricate way made of stones wind- 
ing in and out, called the “Jerusalem Road,’ because 
representing the pilgrimage of Crusaders. 

Rheims, like other Cathedrals of France and of north- 
ern Europe, has suffered sorely from the destruction of 
war. [he town was damaged during the campaigns 
of 1814 and 1870, and in the World War, the Cathe- 
dral was greatly damaged, in some respects irreparably. 
The rose window and many of the statues adorning 
the facade were heartlessly destroyed by the Germans. 
Americans, however, generously provided funds for 
their restoration. 





SAN MINIATO 


FLORENCE 


San Miniato is a notable and beautiful example of 
the use of Italy’s rich vari-colored marbles for embel- 
lishing both interior and exterior with bands and geo- 
metric designs, a method of decoration carried to per- 
fection, and worthy to be called a style. 


[108] 











(See page 107) 


IMS CATHEDRAL, FRANCE. 


E 


RH 





AMIENS CATHEDRAL 


FRANCE 


Amiens, the ‘‘Parthenon of Gothic architecture,” is 
a celebrated example of the perfect French Gothic style, 
and, like Notre Dame, is Basilican in type, but ‘‘more 
splendid and less massive, possibly less stately, but in- 
finitely alive and wholly freed from the comparative, 
ponderous tendency toward the Romanesque style no- 
ticeable in Notre Dame.” 

Amiens Cathedral was begun in 1220 and, completed 
as planned in 1288, was added to later. It represents 
sixty-eight years of work of the two Bishops, Everard, 
who founded it, and Godfrey, who completed and con- 
secrated it. he facade, ‘‘a development of the Roman- 
esque twin towers, connected by an arcade with rose or 
wheel windows above the central recessed door,’’ rep- 
resents west-front exterior decoration at its best—a dis- 
tinguishing feature of all French Gothic Cathedrals. 
Larned says of the Amiens facade: “‘It stands quite 
alone, in my mind, among all Gothic facades I know, 
easily surpassing all the others. Here is the very es- 
sence of the Gothic builders’ art.’’ “Three very high 
and deeply recessed portals grace the front. “The cen- 
tral figure is an eminently majestic statue of Christ, “‘Le 
Bon Dieu d’Amiens,’’ who welcomes all who enter the 
portals and gives them His benediction. At the base 
of the group is David, with crown and scepter, sculp- 
tured as the root and ancestor of Christ. “The Apostles 
appear at His right and left. In the central portal are 
also statues of the four major prophets, and medallions 
interpreting their prophecies. The twelve minor 


[109] 


HISiDORIT CRC HU R GRE 


prophets appear in groups on the piers of the facade. 
Ruskin, in admiration of the Amiens west-front stat- 
uary, aptly refers to it as ‘‘the Bible of Amiens.” 

Colossal statues of twenty-two kings of France, 
each holding the scepter, adorn the gallery of the fa- 
cade. ‘The other portals are dedicated to the Virgin 
and to St. Firmin, the first Christian missionary to 
Amiens and the first bishop and patron saint of 
Amiens. 

Noteworthy among the magnificent interior orna- 
mentations of this vast Cathedral is the decoration of 
the hundred and ten choir stalls, ““whose wood carving 
is equalled by no other in Europe, except that of Cor- 
dova—more than three thousand figures, beautiful, 
delicately quaint and always suggestive of the story 
they tell about what happened in Jewish days in the 
time of Christ.”’ 

Amiens was the birthplace of Peter the Hermit, 
prominent in the early Crusades. 

Ruskin, who said that he could never look unmoved 
upon a French Cathedral, “‘lifting its fair height above 
the purple crowd of humble roofs,’ says of that of 
Amiens: 


It has nothing like the artful pointing and molding of 
the arcades of Salisbury, nothing of the might of 
Durham, no Daedalian inlaying like Florence, no 
glow of mythic fantasy like Verona, and yet, in all 
and more than these ways, outshone or overpowered, 
the Cathedral of Amiens deserves the name given it 
by M. Viollet le Duc, ““The Parthenon of Gothic 
Architecture.”’ 


[110] 


(60] ebpd aeg) “AONYYY “IVUGAHLYD SNAINY 




















STRASSBURG CATHEDRAL 


LUCIFER: Hasten! Hasten! 
O ye spirits 
From its station drag the ponderous 
Cross of iron, that to mock us 
Is uplifted high in air. 


VOICES: O we cannot 
For around it 
All the Saints and Guardian Angels 
Throng in legions to protect it; 
They defeat us everywhere! 


—Longfellow “‘The Golden Legend.”’ 


So begins that celebrated poem by America’s great 
poet, depicting the struggle of Lucifer and his demons 
for the possession of the Cross that tops one of the 
world’s most famous Cathedrals. Two eminent com- 
posers, Sir Arthur Sullivan and the Rev. Henry Ed- 
ward Hodson, have set this poem to music, converting 
it into a cantata, and the Hodson version was presented 
once as an opera in Philadelphia. 

Strassburg, capital of Alsace Lorraine, is one of the 
most famous cities of the Old World, and its Cathedral 
is known to every traveler. The province of Alsace was 
for centuries the bone of contention between France 
and Germany. It was wrested from the former in 
1870 to help form the newly created German Empire, 
and was restored in 1918 as one result of the World 
War when that same empire tumbled to ruins. Around 
Strassburg has been woven much of history, romance 
and legend, and its celebrated Cathedral rears its majes- 


[111] 


HISTORIC TCHURGHES 


tic spire that bids the fabled defiance to the demons of 
darkness. 

The Cathedral was founded, it is believed, about 
600. The remarkable facade by Erwin von Steinbach, 
with its lovely rose window, and noble porches and 
galleries in which are recorded in stone the history of 
the Creation and the Redemption, was completed in 
1365 with the exception of the upper part, which was 
not finished until 1440. ‘“‘A poem wisely composed,”’ 
Victor Hugo says of it. 

The Romanesque Choir dates from 1176 and the 
Gothic Nave from 1250. The Cathedral is built of red 
sandstone. ‘The height of the north tower, which rises 
four hundred and sixty-five feet, is exceeded only by 
that of the Cathedral of Rouen. It treasures magnifi- 
cent Gobelin tapestries, and cups which are shown dur- 
ing the feast of the Corpus Christi. 

Among the Cathedral’s practical ornaments is its 
celebrated tower clock, the original of which was built 
in 1352 under the directions of John, Bishop of Lich- 
tenberg, and twice reconstructed. ‘The present clock of 
marvelous mechanism is thirty feet high and fifteen feet 
wide at the base. A statue of Apollo points out the 
day of the month. Figures drawn in chariots indicate 
the day of the week—Apollo, drawn by horses, indi- 
cating Sunday; Diana, drawn by stags, Monday; etc. 
Above these figures is a dial, with figures on each side 
telling the time of day. One holds an hour-glass and 
turns it every sixty minutes. Moveable figures in suc- 
cession strike the quarter hour. ‘The first, an infant, 
strikes the bell with a rattle. “The second is a youth, 
the third an old man, and fourth Death, who strikes 
the bell with a bone. In the highest compartment is a 


[112] 


te el te a Pk 
rene @ LiF 


a 





(See page 111) 


THE CLOCK IN STRASSBURG CATHEDRAL. 





HISTORUGRGHURCIES 


figure of Christ. Each day at noon a procession of 
Apostles passes before Him, while a cock perched 
above, appears, flaps its wings, and crows three times. 
The cock is the clock’s truly historical feature preserved 
since the fourteenth century, since when it has daily 
amused and astonished successive generations for five 
centuries. Lyons Cathedral has a less celebrated but 
similar tower clock. 





CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL 


OXFORD 


Oxford Cathedral was never a church of first rank, 
but a twelfth century priory church, turned five hun- 
dred years later into a Cathedral. It is a beautiful speci- 
men of late Anglo-Norman architecture, although its 
original plan was disturbed by Wolsey’s dream of a 
Cardinal College, never realized, one of several at- 
tempts to convert monastic institutions into places of 
education. The magnificent plan was cut short by the 
Cardinal’s disgrace in 1529, but later taken up by the 
King on a small scale. ‘The college was first called 
King’s College and then Christ Church. The church 
fills the twofold purpose of a Cathedral and a College 
chapel. 

Five windows from designs by Sir Edward Burne- 
Jones are among its notable interior decorations. 

King’s Chapel College, Cambridge, in Gothic per- 
pendicular style, is the chief architectural ornament of 
King’s College, founded by Henry IV in 1446. It 
contains remarkable stained-glass windows, fan vault- 
ing and a wooden organ screen. 


[113] 


ST. ALBAN’S 


ENGLAND 


St. Alban’s, a stern old Norman church, marks the 
scene of England’s first martyrdom. ‘The original 
church of 313 was erected on the wooded hill where 
St. Alban, Britain’s proto-martyr met his death under 
the persecutions of Diocletian. “This church was de- 
stroyed by the Saxons and a second church was built by 
Offa in 793, in penance, the tradition goes, for having 
murdered King Ethelbert. “The present church, vast 
sections of which are said to be constructed of the 
Roman brick of the original church, was begun by the 
Norman Abbot Caen in 1077. ‘Thus this old church, 
which at the time of the Conquest was the most im- 
portant Abbey Church in England, both in site and 
building, has received the consecration of nearly sixteen 
centuries of continuous dedication. In architectural 
style plain, and representing all phases of architecture 
from Saxon to Perpendicular, it boasts the longest nave 
in England. 

From St. Alban’s Caxton issued the first historical 
work printed in England, in 1480. ‘The first battle of 
the War of Roses raged about it in 1455. Five years 
later the victorious King and Queen knelt at its shine 
to return thanks. 

The Abbey is virtually a town in itself. The church 
services were celebrated with a splendor and magnifi- 
cence that challenge comparison with the ritual as ob- 
served by any of the famous churches and cathedrals 
of England. Daily the long aisles resounded with the 
psalmody of hundreds of voices at the Seven Hours of 


[114] 











(See page 116) 


WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL, HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND. 





ST. ALBANS, ENGLAND. 


ai eretee 


vis 





BPISIBORTGRCHURGHES 


Prayer. The festival processions brought forth crowds 
of novices and professed brethren in surplice and robe 
and cape. From early dawn until noon the venerable 
abbot celebrated a succession of Masses and implored 
the blessings of God upon the Order, the Church and 
the Nation. 

One pictures old St. Alban’s at its ‘“‘Seven Hours of 
Prayer’ and their solemn significance in the quaint 
lines: 


At mattins bound, at prime reviled, 
Condemned to death at tierce; 

Nailed to the Cross at sixts, at nones 

His blessed side they pierced; 

They take him down at vesper tide, 

In grave at compline lay; 

Who thenceforth bids His Church observe 
The sevenfold hours alway. 


—Neale. “Essays on Liturgiology.”’ 





Spe GUDUEES 


BRUSSELS 


In the Church of St. Gudule, Brussels, is a curious 
oak pulpit carved in 1699 by Henry Verbruggen. It 
represents an enormous tree which supports the pulpit 
in its boughs, while among its leaves are birds and ani- 
mals. At its base appear Adam and Eve pursued by a 
sorrowful angel, followed by Death, triumphant. At 
its top are the Cross and the Infant Jesus, His foot rest- 
ing on a wounded serpent. 

The windows of the church are pictures that re- 
semble the paintings of the masters. 


[115] 


WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 


HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND 


“In the fair valley of the Itchen, where the downs on 
either hand grow near together,’ stands. Winchester 
Cathedral, begun in 1079 by Bishop Walkelyn, cousin 
and chaplain of William the Conqueror. A seventh 
century Saxon church and a tenth century Church of 
St. Peter and St. Paul had preceded it. In the latter 
was the choir dedicated to St. Swithin, Bishop of Win- 
chester, who died in 862, and the patron saint of the 
church from the tenth to the sixteenth century. “The 
legend that the removal of his body to the shrine pre- 
pared for it was delayed for forty days by rain has been 
immortalized in the popular jingle:— 


St. Swithin’s day, if thou dost rain 
For forty days it will remain; 

St. Swithin’s day, if thou be fair, 
For forty days ’twil rain na mair. 


St. Swithin’s iron grill in the north nave aisle dating 
from 1093, is reputed to have four panels taken from 
the original grill protecting the shrine of the saint and 
to be the oldest iron work in England. 

Bishop Walkelyn, we are told, built the Cathedral 
at his own expense, out of stone from the Isle of Wight 
and wood from the Hempage Forest. 

In Winchester, where early kings lived, and whose 
Cathedral was their chapel, Egbert, crowned “‘tn regem 
totius Brittaniae,”’ issued an edict ordering that the 
island should thereafter be called England and its peo- 
ple Englishmen. There, Alfred the Great, in 871, es- 


[116] 




















(See page 114) 


ENGLAND. 


ALBAN’S, 


ST. 


LAND. 


ENC 


WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL, 





HismORTGy CHURCHES 


tablished his capital, making it the literary center of 
the country, and there he was crowned, lived, died, and 
was buried. “There William the Conqueror often went 
and there were crowned Edward the Confessor, Henry 
IJ, and Henry IV. To Winchester went Mary for her 
ill-fated marriage to Philip of Spain. 

Though somewhat plain and uninviting in exterior, 
this old Cathedral has a rich and beautiful interior. In 
no English Church, save Westminster Abbey and St. 
Paul’s, lie more men of note—among these the unpre- 
tentious but revered Isaac Walton, who loved the 
banks of the “sweet and fitful Itchen.”’ 

To Winchester went Jane Austin, to die and be laid 
at rest in the spot where, though sorely ruined by the 
heartless ravages of the Commonwealth, today “‘sleeps 
amid the trees the tranquil grey building in the heart of 
one of the most charming of all south-of-England 
cities.”’ 





GHURGHOERASiIe GENEVIEVE 


PARIS 


The Church of St. Genevieve (1755-81), better 
known as the Pantheon, also represents the classical or 
revival style of architecture. It has a Greek cross 
ground plan and four halls surrounding a central hall 
surmounted byadome. It takes its name from the pic- 
torial panels executed by Puvis de Chavannes in com- 
memoration of the life of St. Genevieve. Mural dec- 
orations by other French artists of renown also adorn 


this church. 
[117] 


EDY GA TEIBDOR At 


ENGLAND 


For exterior effect Ely Cathedral, the Cathedral 
Church of St. Etheldreda and St. Peter, is surpassed 
only, if at all, in England by those of Durham and 
Lincoln, which have the advantage of finer natural set- 
tings. Nevertheless it ranks high among the celebrated 
Cathedrals of England, standing fourth in length and 
fifth in area, exceeding in these respects-the Cathedrals 
of both Durham and Canterbury. 

Ely has many distinctive features; among them a 
massive castellated tower, and a central octagon aptly 
termed the “‘glory of Ely,”’ and pronounced by many 
artists and architects to be without a rival in the world. 

Until 1081 there stood on its site the Abbey Church 
of Etheldreda, who left the Court of her husband, 
Egfrid, King of Northumberland, to devote her life to 
religion. With her riches she built and endowed a mon- 
astery and became its first Abbess. It was of those early 
days that the old English poet sang: 


Merie sungen the Muneches binnen Ely 
Tha Cnut Ching rew ther by. 

Rowe ye cnites noer the lant 

And here we thes Muneches saeng. 


(Merry sang the Monks of Ely 
As Cnut, the King rowed by; 
Row, knights, near the land, 
And hear we the monks sing. ) 


The erection of the present Cathedral was begun in 
1082. It is chiefly in the Norman style but has de- 


[118] 





RO ee ae ot marrprcrresesinstte 


a a Resaes 
mee ma 








DRAL CHURCH OF ST. ETHELDREDA AND ST. PETER. 


ELY CATHEDRAL, THE CATHE 





BismO MIG ROE 'S 


cided early English and later decorated architectural 
features. The Galilee Porch, built 1200 to 1215, is 
early English, while the Lady Chapel, constructed 
1321 to 1349, and the Octagon Lantern (1322), cel- 
ebrating in the corbels, eight scenes from the life of St. 
Etheldreda, are late decorated. 

‘The Cathedral is picturesque and imposing, nestling 
in a rolling fen country, and to the southward, like a 
thickly wooded park, lies the main part of the Close, 
with many fragments of the ancient convent buildings. 
Around it all cluster a myriad of historical associations 
and memories. 





GASP EDRWAE 


MURANO, ITALY 


At Murano, which since the thirteenth century has 
been famous as the center of the Venetian glass and imi- 
tation gem industry, is a twelfth century cathedral, San 
Donato, The Mother Church of Murano. Doge 
Domenico Michele in the Second Crusade, tradition has 
it, obtained possession of the body of St. Donato, 
Bishop of Eurola, which treasure he presented to Mu- 
rano’s Basilican church, consecrated in 957, and hence- 
forth called the Church of St. Mary and St. Donato. 
This church, says tradition, had been erected on the 
spot designated by the Virgin in response to the pray- 
ers of Emperor Otho, the Great, lost in a storm on the 
Adriatic. If saved, he vowed to build a church to the 
Virgin. Appearing in a dream, the Virgin designated 
her chosen site by a covering of red lilies. 


[119] 


PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


Peterborough Cathedral, officially known as the 
Cathedral of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew, was 
originally an Abbey Church of the seventh century, 
and was rebuilt by the Benedictines at the close of the 
tenth century. ‘The present structure was begun in 
1117. Its dedication to St. Peter gave the town its 
name, Peter’s Borough. Like Durham Cathedral, 
Peterborough represents the Norman style of architec- 
ture at its best. 

Says Van Rensselaer in “‘English Cathedrals’’:— 


“Its western portico is conceded to be the most famous 
in any of England’s famous Churches—as beautiful 
as it is striking—the work, it seems to me, of some 
exceptionally brilliant Englishman, who had seen the 
great portals of France and had wished to surpass 
them, but, led on by the imagination that was more 
poetic than architectural in quality, ended by creating 
something entirely new.” 


Although Henry treated this ancient Church kindly, 
under the Cromwellites it was almost ruined along 
with the monastic buildings, which in their glory cov- 
ered a space four times as great as that occupied by 
the church itself. Glass, monuments, carvings and 
much splendid interior furniture such as the great sil- 
ver-mounted reredos, were ruthlessly destroyed. The 
vast picture of Christ and the Apostles on the ceiling 
of the choir was used for target practice and the soldiers 
did their daily exercising in the nave. 


[120] 


SNe Tk SG RON: Rare. 





























TERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. 


PE 





EIS ORTOROMUNCGHES 


Two famous tombs are in this Cathedral, those of 
the two ill-fated and discrowned Queens—Catherine 
of Aragon, the unhappy queen of Henry VIII, and 
Mary, Queen of Scots. The latter was beheaded at 
Fotheringay Castle in February 1587, and buried at 
Peterborough August 1. “Twenty-five years after, her 
son, James I, removed her body to the Chapel of Henry 
VII, in Westminster Abbey. The fame and wealth of 
this monastery was so great that it was called the 
“Golden Borough’; and a Pope had said that if any 
“Tslander’’ was prevented from visiting St. Peter’s at 
Rome, he could obtain the same indulgence by visiting 
this St. Peter’s. So the spot grew in sanctity so that 
all pilgrims, even those of royal blood, removed their 
shoes under the western gateway of the Close. 





LORNA DOONE’S CHURCH 


DEVONSHIRE 


In Exmoor still stands Lorna Doone’s Church, cele- 
brated in Blackmore’s classic of the Doone Country. 


“Then Lorna Doone came out of a pew half way and 
took my left hand in her right. Her dress was of pure 
white, clouded with faint lavender and as simple as 


need be. . . . Her eyes, which none on earth can 
ever equal or compare with, told me such a depth of 
comfort yet awaiting further commune... . The 


sound of a shot rang through the Church and those 
eyes were filled with death—Lorna fell across my 
knees, a flood of blood came out upon the yellow 
wood of the altar step. It was now Whit-Tuesday 
and the lilacs all in bloom. I laid my wife in my 
mother’s arms and went forth for my revenge.” 


—‘‘Lorna Doone—A Romance of Exmootr.’’ 
[121] 


WELLS CATHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


The Cathedral Church of St. Andrew at Wells, 
marks the historic spot of springs, or great wells, which 
led King [an’s house of secular canons to establish their 
church there, and ‘“‘which perhaps rendered the site a 
sacred spot in the days of the Druids, as in those of 
early Christianity.’’ It is, perhaps, the third church 
on the site—the first a Saxon Church of wood, and the 
second the Church of St. Andrew, erected in 909 near 
the fountain of St. Andrew, when Wells became the 
seat of a bishop. ‘The present Cathedral was begun in 
1174 by Reginald de Bohun, who when thirty-three 
years old, accompanied Richard the Lion Hearted on a 
Crusade. “To Bishop Jocelyn (1206-1242), “great 
maker of Wells,’’ who spent his entire fortune on the 
Cathedral, is accredited the famous west front with its 
“stone population of some three hundred life-size 
figures only equaled by that of Rheims and Chartres.” 

In plan, the Cathedral is a double cross, inverted 
arches making St. Andrew’s cross, a beautiful architec- 
tural feature. Its facade is one of the few English fa- 
cades adapted to sculptural decoration. 

Among other noticeable features is Wells Chapter 
House, “famous among these beautiful adjuncts to 
English Cathedrals.’’ Its vaulting ribs, branching out 
from sixteen Purbeck shafts, clustered around a central 
pillar typify the diocesan church with all its members 
gathered around the common father, the bishop. Its 
ruby and white windows are magnificent and the crypt 
is unusually high because of the many springs. “The 


[122] 

















AT WELLS, ENGLAND. 


Interior and Exterior Views. 


THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ANDREW, 





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PUD EIRC) he Cen erry Geka hy 


sixty-four Misericordes from the old choir stalls are 
considered among the best examples of medieval wood 
carving. ‘Ihe Jesse window above the high altar, tell- 
ing in soft, beautiful lights the story of the Babe of 
Bethlehem, takes high and just rank among famous 
windows. 

Until recently the famous Glastonbury clock hung 
in Wells Cathedral Tower. It was made by Peter 
Lightfoot, a Benedictine monk in 1325, and taken to 
Wells at the Dissolution. With its “multitude of in- 
structive functions and stiff little manikins to strike 
the hours,”’ this clock, one of the most wonderful in the 
world, is now in the Kensington Museum. 

Wells, like Salisbury and Durham, is a city which 
has grown up around its Cathedral, with its Close and 
group of ecclesiastical buildings. 

In size and some other respects, Wells Cathedral 
cannot measure up to some of England’s other Cathe- 
drals. Compared detail by detail, it falls short, but 
there is an exquisite harmony about every feature that 
gives it a charm all its own. 





GAGE ATS 


VERONA, ITALY 


This Romanesque structure of the twelfth century 
numbers among its cherished possessions the famous 
“Assumption,” by Titian. Rude relief sculptures of 
Roland and Oliver, the famous paladins of Charle- 
magne, adorn the main portal. 


[123] 


YORK MINSTER 


ENGLAND 


There is a Primate of All England, a title born by 
the Archbishop of Canterbury; and there is a Primate 
of England in the person of the Archbishop of York, 
the capital of Britain in the days of Roman rule. There 
are reasons for the distinction conferred upon the ec- 
clesiastical head of this See. 

Away back in the seventh century what is now Eng- 
land was divided into several little kingdoms. ‘The 
King of Kent had a daughter, Ethelburga, who was 
sought in marriage by King Edwin of Northumbria. 
But the Princess Ethelburga was a Christian, and her 
suitor a pagan. She accepted him, but stipulated that 
she take with her to her new northern home a chap- 
lain of her own faith. King Edwin agreed, and she 
took Paulinus, a Roman missionary, who was later 
consecrated Bishop of York. King Edwin became con- 
verted, and with his court and ten thousand others, he 
was inducted into the church, the entire number being 
baptized in one day. 

York was an important settlement even before the 
Roman occupation during the first century of the 
Christian era; quite naturally becoming a military post. 

Since there is a record of a bishop of York in 314 
A.D., this church must have been preceded by an earlier 
house of worship. We read, also, that King Edwin 
was baptized in a small wooden church on the present 
site of York, an ancient Roman camp, which makes 
such conclusion certain. The present Cathedral (1189- 
1474), of such majestic proportions and great area as 


[124] 


“ONY TIONY ‘YALSNIW WYOA 








HISTORICNCHURCHES 


in the latter respect to exceed any Cathedral north of 
the Alps except Cologne, according to Pratt, is sup- 
posed to be the fifth house of worship on the spot. 

Edward I made York his capital during his wars 
with Scotland. In 1318, Parliament assembled there. 
By the end of the fifteenth century, York Minster, rep- 
resenting the temporal power of the church and nobly 
supported by Archbishops who were not only military 
leaders, but great builders and benefactors of the Cathe- 
dral, appeared much as it does now. 

The west front with its immense, magnificent win- 
dows, beautifully decorated, rivaled only by those of 
Carlisle, and the I'win Towers, is conceded to be the 
best facade in England—in this respect an exception to 
the prevailing rule that English facades have not the 
splendor of the French. 

The central tower, the largest in England, and one 
of the finest in the world, has impressive dignity. In 
expanse of interior, York vies with St. Peter’s and St. 
Paul’s. 

In its windows, York contains perhaps more orig- 
inal early English stained glass than any other build- 
ing, fortunately left from the heartless general destruc- 
tion of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Much 
of its historic glass is seen in the beautiful rose window 
of the south transept, in admiration of which one 
writer says, ““How delicate, how rich, how chaste, how 
unrivaled! All the colors seem to be intertwined in 
delicate fibers like Mechlin lace.” ‘““The Five Sisters’’ 
in the north transept, the largest lancet window in 
England, is of incomparable beauty, with its original 
glass of grayish-green tones, of sea-green purity, and 
simple early English design. Wherever York is known, 


[125] 


HISi, ORIG} CHURCHES 


her ‘‘Five Sisters’’ are known. This glass is believed 
to date from the thirteenth century. 

‘Two other famous windows are the Bell Founders’ 
Window, reputed to be the gift of Richard Tumac, a 
bell founder of York and its representative in Parlia- 
ment in 1327, and St. Cuthbert’s Window, celebrating 
in detail the life, miracles, death, burial and transla- 
tion of this saint. In the north tower hangs one of the 
largest bells in the kingdom, ‘‘Great Peter,’’ weighing 
ten tons and costing, in 1845, £2,000 ($10,000). 





CHURCH OR Site BASIE 


At one extremity of the Kremlin is the Church of 
St. Basil, erected by Ivan, the Terrible over the grave 
of Basil (the Imbecile). In the crypt of the Church 
are the heavy chains and crosses which the saint wore 
for penance and the iron weights worn by St. John 
(the Idiot). This fantastic church is painted in the 
colors of the rainbow, decorated in gold and silver. 
Eleven towers, each over a tiny chapel, simulate vege- 
tables, one an artichoke; others pineapples, onions, etc. 

In Moscow is also the Cathedral of St. Michael the 
Archangel, the former burial place of the Russian mon- 
archs. It dates, in present form, from the beginning 
of the sixteenth century. The walls are covered with 
the portraits of the Russian monarchs buried there. 

The Cathedral of the Ascension, also in Moscow 
(founded in 1397), has walls and thick pillars cov- 
ered with portraits of saints and Greek philosophers. 
The floor is made of semi-precious stones of various 
colors. 


[126] 


(87Z[ abnd aag) (#2] abpd aag) 
SONVSTNaZ. LIM SAN Tao Oeil stad VO) SS el Lay ‘TOWIUy, “QNYIONY YALsNiIW WaOA 





























EXE TER(CAGHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


Exeter Cathedral had its beginnings in a Saxon Ab- 
bey erected by Athelstan, who reigned from 925 to 
941. Canute, first king to reign over all England, and 
who also was King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway 
(reigned 1014 to 1036), replaced it with another 
church, and in 1107, under William the Conqueror, 
the present edifice was begun. It was consecrated in 
1328 in virtually the form in which it stands today. 

No finer example of medieval architecture exists in 
England. Although pure Gothic it is different from 
others of that style. It has no central or western tower. 
There is a unity of design and aharmony of proportion 
that appeal to the eye seeking the beautiful and artistic. 
It is broad rather than high, massive, solid, built for 
the ages. It has magnificent marble piers and wonder- 
ful contrasts in color and ornate window tracery, be- 
wildering in its diversity. Its splendid carvings and 
glorious vaulted roof combine to give it a place ex- 
clusively its own in early English architecture. 

Among other unique features of this Cathedral is its 
Minstrels’ Gallery, decorated with fourteen beautiful 
canopied niches, containing figures of exquisitely 
wrought angels playing on musical instruments. The 
lovely and celebrated great east window of nine lights 
displays in rich and varied colors figures of saints, 
which are distinguished by their emblems. St. Helena 
holds the True Cross. 

The great clock on the wall of the north transept, 
dating from the time of Edward II, strikes the hours 


[127] 


HIS TORIC ZCHUORCHES 





on the Great Peter bell, brought by Bishop Courtenay 
from Llandaff. It was cracked on November 5, 1611, 
perhaps by too violent ringing in celebration of the 
Gunpowder Plots, and recast in 1676. It is now not 
rung, but struck by a hammer. 

Another curious treasure of Exeter is an old bap- 
tismal font of white marble, decorated with cherubs 
and a dove, prepared for the baptism of Henrietta 
Anne, youngest daughter of King Charles I and Queen 
Henrietta Marie, born in 1644 at Exeter, where the 
Queen was in hiding from Cromwell’s soldiers. 

In Exeter is a tablet to and a bust of Richard Black- 
more (1825-1900) of “‘Lorna Doone” renown. 





(ELISE G EAP ET: 


Tell’s Chapel, erected in the fifteenth century on the 
picturesque shores of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, 
marks one of the many spots immortalized in Schiller’s 
“William Tell.’ Appropriate frescoes, representing 
the exploits ascribed to this national hero of Switzer- 
land, adorn the walls, while opposite the doorway is an 
old altar at which religious services are held. 


“‘At such a time,’’ says Stoddard, ‘“‘this tiny shrine may 
be considered part of the sublime Cathedral of the 
Mountains, whose columns are majestic trees, whose 
stained glass is autumnal foliage, whose anthems are 
songs of birds, whose requiems are the moanings of 
the pines, and whose grand roof is the stupendous 
arch of the unmeasured sky, beneath which the snow- 
clad mountains rise like jeweled altars, lighted at 
night, as if with lofty tapers, by the glittering stars.” 


—‘Switzerland,’’ John L. Stoddard’s Lectures. 
[128] 





EXETER CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. Interior and Exterior Views. 
(See page 127) 





Se GEORGE SVGHIAREL 


WINDSOR CASTLE 


St. George’s Chapel is one of the principal features of 
the ancient castle that has been the principal home of 
the Kings and Queens of England since the days of the 
Conqueror. Ages before Duke William crossed the 
channel, a Saxon king built a hunting lodge in the for- 
est on the river bank, and his successors used it. It is 
easy to imagine that King Arthur and his Round Table 
Knights assembled there upon occasion to hold revel 
and to hunt the hart and the bear, with which the for- 
est abounded. William found the lodge and carefully 
preserved it, while building his keep upon the hill 
nearby. This keep was the beginning of Windsor 
Castle, so rich in historical associations, in romance and 
in legend. 

King Edward III, “Edward of Windsor,” revived 
the Round Table and introduced the patron saint St. 
George to whom he erected this chapel. He also estab- 
lished the Sons of St. George, later to be made Knights 
of the Garter, when he founded that Order. He in- 
stalled these Knights in St. George’s Chapel, establish- 
ing a custom that has been followed by all his succes- 
sors. [he chapel was added to by Edward IV and 
Henry VII. 

It is of particular interest to recall that George V, 
when his country clashed with Germany in the World 
War, discarded his own German surname of Wettin, 
and decreed that thenceforth the family name of the 
Kings of England should be Windsor. 


[129] 


HIS ORLGM GE POU Ror ES 


Prominent decorations in this Royal Chapel are 
memorials to King Edward the Confessor (who, tradi- 
tion says, ‘‘lisped his prayers and cured the halt and the 
blind’’ near Windsor’s ancient Saxon lodge), and to 
St. George and the Dragon. The tomb of Edward IV 
and his beautiful Queen, Elizabeth Widville, and a 
memorial window to them are also prominent features. 
There are also the tombs of Henry VI, Henry VIII, 
Charles I, George III, George [V and William IV. 

Albert Memorial Chapel, another royal chapel, ad- 
joining St. George’s Chapel, erected by Henry VII asa 
royal mausoleum for himself, was later restored and 
beautified by Queen Victoria as a memorial to Albert, 
the Prince Consort. This chapel was at one time 
known as Wolsey Chapel. 

W. D. Howells, in writing of Bath Abbey Church, 


refers thus poetically to the perpendicular Gothic style 
of which this chapel is so notable an example: 


It is mostly of the Perpendicular Gothic, which, I 
suppose, more mystically lifts the soul than any other 
form of architecture, in gracious harmony with itself 
through its lovely proportions. From the stems of 
its clustered columns, the tracery of its fans spreads 
and delicately feels its way over the vaulted roof, as 
if it were a living growth of something rooted in the 
earth beneath. 





SANTA MARIA FORMOSA 


VENICE 


In this church is Vecchio’s celebrated masterpiece, 
“St. Barbara,’’ Patron Saint of Soldiers, and in Santa 
Maria dei Frari, one of the largest and most beautiful 
churches in Venice, is Titian’s wonderful painting, 
“The Madonna of the Pesaro Family.” 


[130] 





ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR, ENGLAND. (See page 129) 





MELROSE” ABBEY) 


SCOTLAND 


If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, 
Go visit it by pale moonlight; 

For the gay beams of lightsome day 

Gild, but to flout the ruins gray; 

When the broken arches are black in night, 
And each shafted oriel glimmers white; 
When the cold lights’ uncertain shower 
Streams on the ruined central tower; 
When buttress and buttress alternately, 


Seem framed of ebon and ivory 
* * * * * 


When distant Tweed is heard to rave, 

And the owlet to hoot o’er the déad man’s grave, 
Then go—but go alone the while— 

Then view St. David’s lonely pile; 

And home returning soothly swear, 

Was never scene so sad and fair. 


—Sir Walter Scott “‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel.” 


Melrose Abbey, originally the home of old Cistercian 
or “White Monks’ (founded 1098) and today pre- 
served as a part of the estates of the Duke of Buccleuch, 
was founded and liberally endowed by King David I in 
1136. In 1322 it was destroyed by the English, re- 
built by David Bruce, and again effaced at the time of 
the Reformation. Its ruins are Scotland’s finest exam- 
ple of Gothic architecture and sculpture. “The stone of 
which the Abbey was built has resisted the weather for 
many centuries, retaining such perfect shape as to have 
preserved almost intact most minute ornaments of 
sculpture. [he buttresses ranged along the sides of the 
ruins are richly carved and fretted, containing niches 


[131] 


His ORT Cyr hits heres 


for statues of saints and labeled with scrolls bearing 
appropriate texts of Scripture. Much of the exquisite 
stone tracery of the windows and most of the statues 
have been demolished. 

James, Earl of Douglas, and gallant Chief of Otter- 
burn, slain in the battle of Otterburn on August 15, 
1388, was buried at Melrose beneath the high altar. A 
keystone decoration represents the head of Michael 
Scott, the famous wizard, buried in the east corner of 
the south chancel chapel, according to the ‘‘Lay of the 
Last Minstrel.’’ The heart of Robert Bruce is interred 
near the high altar. 

“Whatever else of beauty or interest,’ says one 
writer, commenting on Scotland’s ruined Abbeys, 
“Melrose, quaint and ancient village, may possess is 
completely eclipsed by the stately grandeur of this mas- 
sive ruin.” 


[132] 


GLASGOW CATHEDRAL 


GLASGOW 


Glasgow Cathedral, though often rebuilt, stands to- 
day in memory of the first Cathedral (dedicated in 
1197) in pure Norman style. It was completed in the 
middle of the fifteenth century. Its high altar, placed 
over the shrine of St. Kentigern, ‘Apostle to the Scots,”’ 
marks the site of the altar of this saint’s little wooden 
church on the south side of which he was laid to rest. 
This ancient Celtic church, we are told, was built on 
the banks of the Molendivar as early as 560, by St. 
Kentigern, sometimes called St. Mungo (543-603), 
who established Christianity in Scotland, which, upon 
the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain early in 
the fifth century, was given over to anarchy; Saxon 
and Briton, Pict and Scot, striving for mastery. Noth- 
ing is known of the town for more than five hundred 
years after St. Stephen’s time, until David, Prince of 
Cumbria, the future David I, in 1116, re-established 
the See of Glasgow and began to rebuild the church, 
under Bishop Jocelyn’s direction. It was added to by 
Bishop Blackader. 

The Cathedral is rather gloomy and massive, lacking 
the elegance of many other old Cathedrals. It is 319 
feet long, 63 feet wide, with a central spire rising 217 
feet. Formerly there were two western towers, but 
these were removed, one in 1846, the other two years 
later, which removal has been pronounced a “‘grievous 
error of judgment.” In the vicinity were the residences 
of the thirty-two canons, but all have disappeared ex- 
cept the manse of the prebendary of Provan. 


[133] 


PESO Re Gece Or Cr eas 


Some of its ancient splendor was destroyed during 
the Reformation, but its stout walls withstood all as- 
saults. [his fact is quaintly accounted for by Andrew 
Fairservice, in Scot’s “‘Rob Roy.” 


Ah, its a brave Kirk. Nane o’ yere whigmaleeries and 
curliewurlies and open-steek hems about it—a solid, 
well-jointed mason work that will stand as lang as 
the world keep hands and gunpowther off it. 


In memory of the damage done during the Reforma- 
tion, the Memorial of the Nine Martyrs of the Coven- 
ant, one of the Post-Reformation monuments executed 
in 1666-1688, may be seen in the Chapter House. 

On the memorial are these lines: 


Years sixty-six and eighty-four 

Did send their souls home into glore, 
Whose bodies here interred ly, 

Then sacrificed to tyranny 

To Covenants and Reformation, 

Cause they adhered to their station. 
‘These nine with others in this yard, 
Whose heads and bodies were not spared 
Their testimonies foes to bury 

Caused beat the drums then in great fury, 
They'll know at resurrection day 

To murder Saints was no sweet play. 


The church belongs to the Crown, but the choir is 
used as one of the ten city churches belonging to the 
Corporation of the Municipality. 


[134] 


S ee AP RICKS 


DUBLIN 


St. Patrick’s Cathedral, dating from 1190, is said to 
stand on the site of a church founded by St. Patrick 
himself (372-461) whose life from slavery to priest- 
hood and sainthood is depicted in the Cathedral’s west 
windows by Wales of New Castle. The Cathedral was 
burned some two hundred years later, but raised with 
new splendor, and the building as it now stands, 
though it has undergone restorations, follows in its 
main features the original design. In its nave hang the 
old Colors of various Irish regiments. “Tradition has 
it that the church was set on fire in 1316 by the citizens 
in order to check the advance of Edward Bruce, brother 
to King Robert Bruce. 

The tower, unrivaled in Ireland and unsurpassed as 
a belfry in the United Kingdom, is the work of Arch- 
bishop Minot. It is 147 feet high from the floor to 
battlements, 30 feet square at the base, and has walls 
10 feet thick. The granite spire 101 feet high was 
built in 1749. 

In St. Patrick’s Cathedral are buried many persons 
intimately connected with Irish history, among them 
Jonathan Swift, Dean of the Cathedral for more than 
thirty years. His pulpit still stands. His marble bust 
adorns the wall with the characteristic epitaph com- 
posed by himself: 


Here lies the body of 
Jonathan Swift, 

Dean of this Cathedral, 
Where bitter indignations 


[135] 


HISTRORT CM GHU RGIS 


Can no more lacerate his heart. 
Go, Traveller, and so far as thou art able 
Imitate this strenuous advocate of liberty. 


Close by his grave is that of Stella, the woman he 
loved. 

In the door of the Chapter House is a hole through 
which, tradition says, the Earls of Kildare and Ormond 
shook hands. Cromwell and James II are both said to 
have used the church as barracks. 

Near St. Patrick’s is Christ Church Cathedral, said 
to be slightly the older of the two Cathedrals, marking 
the site of an ancient hill fort and original church at- 
tributed to a Danish King of 1038. 

St. Patrick’s bell in Dublin Museum may be seen in 
a beautiful metal bell cover of the eleventh century, 
magnificently ornamented in gold and silver, gems and 
crystal, a sacred relic of the life and labors of the saint 
who laid a foundation which made Ireland the center 
of religious influence in northern Europe. St. Patrick’s 
remains are supposed to lie in the Cathedral of Down- 
patrick. 


[136] 


TRONDHJEM CATHEDRAL 


NORWAY 


Trondhjem Cathedral, the most northern in Europe, 
occupies the site of the first Christian church in Nor- 
way. In 997, Olaf Trygvesson founded a city at the 
mouth of the river Nid, and called it Nidaros. In the 
course of time it became the city of Trondhjem. The 
founder built a palace and a church, and dedicated the 
latter to St. Clement. King Olaf Haraldsson estab- 
lished an episcopal See there and installed the Monk 
Grimkell as Bishop. 

The first church was virtually rebuilt in 1020; but 
in 1066 King Olaf Kyrre began the construction of a 
Cathedral upon the site, as a monument as well as a 
tomb for St. Olaf, Norway’s Patron Saint. All that 
was mortal of him was entombed in the high altar. 
Around this tomb the national and religious life of 
Norway centered. To it as a shrine went pilgrims from 
far and near. It was the most sacred spot in Norway. 

The dome was enlarged in Orgival style by Arch- 
bishop Eystein (St. Augustine), and the Cathedral was 
finished in 1248 by Archbishop Sigurd Sim. In 1299 
the Cathedral had its first coronation, that of King 
Haakon ‘“The Longlegs,’’ and it then became the place 
of coronation for Norway’s kings. 

Repeatedly the Cathedral lost its fine dome by fire, 
and as fast as one was burned another arose in its place. 
In 1521, Archbishop Eric Walkendorf was exiled, as 
Lutheranism spread, and his successor under royal com- 
mand, turned it into.a Lutheran church. The reliqua- 
ries of St. Olaf and St. Augustine were taken to Copen- 


[137] 


HISTORIC CHU RGR 


hagen and melted, and the bones of St. Olaf were buried 
under the Cathedral. The place was virtually forgotten 
and neglected until 1814, when, once more a Catholic 
place of worship, the dome was again rebuilt and the 
Cathedral restored. 

From the ambulatory behind the choir opens a tiny 
chamber containing St. Olaf’s Well, of rugged, yellow 
stone with holes remaining in the pavement through 
which the tripping rain ran away when the buckets 
were set down. 

In the graveyard, acres in extent, are hundreds of 
graves, all kept like gardens, with roses and honey- 
suckle clambering over the tombs, and each grave hold- 
ing a vase in which fresh cut flowers are placed daily. 
So this city of the dead is prettily and poetically known 
as the Cathedral Gardens. 


[138] 














SANTA CROCE (Church of the Holy Cross) FLORENCE, ITALY. 
(See page 139) 





SAN PAR GROGE 


FLORENCE 


St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic, two great re- 
ligious powers and reformers of the medieval church, 
both established large and influential church orders 
bearing their names: the Franciscans, or Black Friars, 
founded in 1212, and the Dominicans, or White Friars, 
founded in 1220. Says Ruskin: St. Francis taught the 
Christian man how to behave and St. Dominic what 
he should think. One, the apostle of works and the 
other of faith, each had his band in Florence.” 

Santa Croce (Church of the Holy Cross), erected in 
1294, is the most perfect little Gothic chapel in Italy. 
Its Pazzi Chapel is Brunelleschi’s choicest ecclesiastical 
design. Over its altar is what is said to be the only 
authentic portrait of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of 
the Franciscans, taken from life by Giotto’s master, 
Arnolfo. Beside it are its celebrated companion pieces, 
St. Francis’ “‘Commanding Angels’’—Poverty, Obe- 
dience, and Chastity, fitting decoration for the Church 
of St. Francis, whose simple creed upon which he 
founded his great Franciscan Order was, according to 


Ruskin, 


You must work without money and be poor, 
You must work without pleasure and be chaste, 
You must walk according to orders and be obedient. 


Among the celebrated remains buried within and 
distinguishing this church, sometimes referred to as the 
Florentine Pantheon, are those of Michael Angelo and 
Galileo, to whom Byron thus pays tribute: 


[139] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


In Santa Croce’s holy precincts be 

Ashes which make it holier dust which is 
Even in itself an immortality. 

There repose 

Angelo’s, Alfieri’s bones and his, 

The starry Galileo with his woes. 


—“‘Childe Harold,’’ Canto IV. 





ST. ISAAC'S 


LENINGRAD 


During the building of this “‘first shrine of all the 
Russias,’ from 1819 to 1858, the city that boasts its 
possession was St. Petersburg. Early in the World 
War the ill-fated Czar Nicholas II, Russianized its 
name to Petrograd. After that monarch had been de- 
posed and murdered, and the Bolshevists under Lenine 
and ‘Trotzky ruled, the capital was transferred to Mos- 
cow. And when Lenine died, his followers wrested the 
name of the great Peter from his capital and called it 
Leningrad. 

The steps of St. Isaac’s are rose granite, and the por- 
ticos are supported by massive columns of the same 
material, sixty feet high, seven feet in diameter, with 
a mirror-like polish. “They are the largest columns ever 
quarried and fashioned except Pompey’s Pillar in 
Egypt and Alexander’s Column in Leningrad. ‘The 
inlaid walls are richly adorned with mosaics, portraits 
of the saints and jeweled shrines of gold. ‘There is a 
portrait of Christ studded with diamonds, the largest 
of which is valued at $35,000. 

The Cathedral cost $14,000,000, a quarter of which 
was required to construct the foundations. Into the 
Holy of Holies, shielded by a veil of gold, malachite, 
lapis-lazuli and agate, people rarely enter. 


[140] 


‘GVUONINAT “IVUAAHLYD S,OVVSI “LS 








CATHEDRAL OF ROUEN 


FRANCE 


In Rouen, ancient capital of Normandy, where 
Jeanne d’Arc, the nineteen year old girl warrior of 
France, was kept for months in a gloomy prison and 
which afterward became the scene of her martyrdom, 
is a Cathedral which, says a critic, ““would be wholly 
Gothic if its central spire did not dip into the zone of 
the Renaissance.” 

Rouen Cathedral was erected between 1200 and 
1220. Its twenty-five highly ornamented chapels con- 
tain numerous monuments of historic interest. One of 
the old side chapels contains much of the finest of six- 
teenth century stained glass. ‘The cast-iron spire on 
the central tower (four hundred eighty-five feet) is the 
loftiest in France. Except for the highest story, the 
St. Romain Tower at the left, dating from the twelfth 
century, is the oldest part of the building. 

Rouen is noted for its old ecclesiastical structures. 
In addition to the Cathedral, it contains the Church of 
St. Ouen, built in the fourteenth and fifteenth centur- 
ies, and which is as large as the Cathedral. In its re- 
stored state it presents a pure and elegant example of 
Gothic architecture. The first stone of St. Ouen was 
laid in 1318, and the principal part of the church was 
finished before 1500. During the French Revolution 
the church was used as an armory and stable. 

The town figured early in ecclesiastical history as the 
seat of Bishop Rollo, who with his Norsemen, settled 
in Rouen at the close of the ninth century. Later it be- 
came a Huguenot stronghold. St. Ouen marks the 


[141] 


HIS TORIC CHURCHES 


early stages of the decline of Gothic Cathedral building 
(1150-1500), when “‘structural expression became 
subordinate to decorative elaboration.”’ 





CATHEDRAL OF ‘THE ASSUMPTION 


MOSCOW 


In the large court of the Kremlin, the Acropolis of 
Russia, we find ourselves in the midst of the most be- 
wildering conglomeration of palaces, Churches, and 
monasteries of which the imagination can dream. 


—Theophile Gautier. 


The Cathedral of the Assumption, (Uspensky 
Sober) is Russia’s most sacred edifice and is one of the 
most ancient and characteristically Russian Cathedrals 
in the Kremlin, Russia’s center of religious and politi- 
cal life. It was built by an architect of Bologna in the 
fifteenth century on the site of a church founded in 
1326. Its style (Lombard-Byzantine) is severely 
plain, and its plan almost square. Four enormous 
tower-like pillars, as massive as the Egyptian columns, 
support a central cupola. Its impressive interior deco- 
ration is, in the main, Byzantine. Paintings on gold 
backgrounds cover the walls from floor to ceiling like 
a tapestry of gold. Its pillars are decorated with thou- 
sands of figures. Gems and precious metals of great 
antiquity abound, among them one attributed to St. 
Luke. 

The treasury of the Cathedral contains many relics 
of saints, valuable Bibles, and manuscripts, and is one 
of the richest in Russia. Ivan IV (the Terrible) was 
crowned in this Cathedral in 1547, and this custom has 
been followed by every Russian Emperor since. 


[142] 





CATHEDRAL OF ROUEN, FRANCE. (See page 141) 














CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION, Moscow. 





BURGOS CATHEDRAL 


SPAIN 


At Burgos, fora long time first city of Castile, is one 
of the most richly ornate Gothic edifices in the world, 
founded in part by an English bishop in 1221. It is 
not a large church as cathedrals go, but has one of the 
finest exteriors in Gothic architecture. The western 
towers are crowned with open-work spires that recall 
Cologne, and the beautiful octagons above the Chapel 
at the eastern end, make a harmonious grouping. 

A famous treasure of Burgos is the relic of the Cid, 
Spain’s national hero. There is a great chest fastened 
to the walls by iron clamps, probably the oldest chest 
in the world, on which is inscribed, ‘‘Cofre del Cid.”’ 
The story is that Ruy Diaz de Bivar (Cid Campea- 
dor), hero and simple author, once lacking money, had 
the chest filled with sand and stones and carried to the 
house of an honest Jewish money lender, who accepted 
it as security for a loan, obeying the command not to 
open the mysterious coffer until he was reimbursed. 

At Burgos is the celebrated Christ, so revered that 
no One is permitted to see it except by candlelight. It 
is reputed to be made of human skin, with real hair 
and eyelashes, and the thorns of the crown upon his 
brow are real. The skin, now a brownish yellow 
showing great age, is streaked with what appears to be 
real blood, and there is a legend that it bleeds every Fri- 
day. This Christ wears a white garment embroidered 
in gold, falling from the waist to the knees. At the 
foot of the Cross are three ostrich eggs, presumably 
alluding to the Trinity. 


[143] 


Sie CHAR EWE 


PARIS 


St. Chapelle (1242-1247) or Royal Chapel, in 
Paris, remains a monument to good St. Louis of 
France. It was erected by him as a fitting shrine to 
contain the relic of the Crown of Thorns. The tradi- 
tion is that Baldwin, son-in-law of Jean de Brienne, 
Emperor of Constantinople, had promised the Crown 
of Thorns, preserved in the Treasury of the Byzan- 
tine Emperors, to St. Louis. But on his return to Con- 
stantinople, Baldwin found his father-in-law dead, 
and the relic in the hands of the Venetians, who held it 
as a pledge for some 100,000 francs, lent to the Em- 
peror. This sum St. Louis paid. In August, 1239, 
the Crown of Thorns reached Paris and was first de- 
posited at Vincennes, whence the monks of St. Denis 
took it first to Notre Dame and later to the Chapel of 
St. Nicholas. 

Three years later, according to tradition, Baldwin 
sent St. Louis the famous iron top of the lance that 
had pierced the Savior’s side, the Holy Lance of An- 
tioch—the chief glory of the First Crusade; a piece of 
the true Cross, and other relics to induce him to under- 
take another Crusade. During an illness, St. Louis 
made a vow to go, but not until he had provided a 
place for the relics. St. Louis completed this under- 
taking in three years, the result being that exquisite 
building in pure Gothic, St. Chapelle, from the stair- 
way of which he and many succeeding kings of France, 
at stated times, exhibited the sacred relics to the people 
gathered in the chapel below. 


[144] 








NOTRE DAME, ANTWERP. (See page 145) 





NOTRE DAME 
ANTWERP 

Who has not seen the Church under the bell? Those 
lofty aisles, those twilight Chapels, that cumbersome 
pulpit with its huge carvings, that wide grey pave- 
ment, flecked with various lights from the jewelled 
windows, and those famous pictures between the vol- 
uminous columns over the altars, which twinkle with 
their ornaments. 

Thus Thackeray, in his ‘“‘Roundabout Papers,’”’ re- 
fers to Notre Dame, “‘latest, most spacious and most 
magnificent cathedral of the Netherlands,’’ and one of 
the most remarkable churches of Europe. The original 
was a chapel built for the miraculous image of the 
Blessed Virgin. 

One of Notre Dame’s highly prized treasures is 
Rubens’ “‘Descent from the Cross,’’ ranking among 
the world’s greatest pictures. Among others are Leon- 
ardo da Vinci’s “‘Last Supper’; Raphael’s “‘Sistine 
Madonna’’; Michael Angelo’s “‘Last Judgment,’’ and 
Rembrandt's ‘““The Night Watch.’ Rubens’ “‘Assump- 
tion,’ adorning the lower part of the altar piece, is an 
excellent example of the artist’s comprehension of re- 
ligious decorative art. It is said to be a higher concep- 
tion than Titian’s ‘“‘Assumption,”’ at Verona. 

To the celebrated Antwerp Cathedral’s clock, sound- 
ing its half hours, and the chimes of which can be 
heard many miles, Thackeray thus fancifully refers, 
“Day and night the kind little carillon plays its fantas- 
tic melodies overhead.”’ 

In St. Jacques’ Chapel, Antwerp, Rubens’ “Holy 
Family’ adorns the altar of the chapel in which the ar- 
tist himself is buried. 


[145] 


CATHEDRAL OF MALINES 


(MECHLIN) BELGIUM 


At Malines, Belgium, is a Cathedral in whose tower 
hangs a set of forty-five bells called a carillon, after 
the great Flemish musical instrument, an incidental fea- 
ture of the Flemish Renaissance. Carillon is tuned to 
the chromatic scale and played from a manual key- 
board. Most of these bells were cast in the seventeenth 
century by Hemong, of Amsterdam. ‘They surpass in 
volume and tone even the famous chimes in the belfry 
of Bruges, set up in 1743, which inspired Longfellow’s 
celebrated poem, ‘“The Belfry of Bruges.”’ 

In this connection it is worth noting that according 
to report the Park Avenue Baptist Church, New York 
City, possesses the largest carillon in the warld, con- 
sisting of fifty-three bells. In Canada the best known 
is the set of twenty-three bells in the Metropolitan 
Methodist Church, Toronto. ‘The largest carillon so 
far on this continent is that of St. Peter’s Church, Mor- 
ristown, N. J., which recently installed a set of thirty- 
five bells. 

At Malines is also the Cathedral of St. Rombold, 
the spire of which is referred to as the greatest projected 
during the Middle Ages. “The tower part alone is three 
hundred and fifty feet high, and had it been completed 
as projected the cupola would have been six hundred 
and forty feet from the ground. 

St. Rombold, Metropolitan Church of Belgium, be- 
came a Cathedral in 1559. Napoleon, discovering that 
religion was necessary for the welfare, peace and pros- 
perity of a country, and that without the blessings of 


[146] 


HIS TORTGVGHURCHES 


Christianity, nations could never achieve greatness or 
preserve their stability, restored the churches in France 
and Belgium. “They became a “‘leading principle’ in 
the policy of the first Consul and his famous Con- 
cordat of 1801. 





GOAPE St ORe Sl PE Eh eg ANID 
ST. JOHN 


TOWER OF LONDON 


Half a mile below London Bridge on ground which 
was once a bluff commanding the Thames stands the 
Tower, a mass of ramparts, walls and gates, the most 
ancient and most poetic pile in Europe—white with 
age and wrinkled with remorse. 


—William Hepworth Dixon. 


In this grim old Tower, England’s oldest and most 
romantic building, are two historic chapels—St. John’s 
Chapel in the White Tower, and St. Peter’s Chapel in 
the Tower of Green. The former, a beautiful example 
of Norman architecture, belongs to the earliest date of 
the Tower (1078), having been built by William the 
Conqueror, probably upon the site of some ancient 
Saxon stronghold or Roman fortress. The White 
‘Tower was originally called ‘‘Caesar’s Tower.’ It 
was probably his sanctuary of worship. In St. Peter’s 
Chapel, “‘musical with bells,’’ the remains of Anne 
Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Lady Jane Gray and the 
Duke of Monmouth lie buried beneath the altar. 

In the Tower of London, with its “eight hundred 
years of historic life and nineteen hundred years of 
traditional fame,”’ Sir Walter Raleigh, English seaman 
and favorite of Good Queen Bess, wrote his “‘History 
of the World,’’ while one of its eminent prisoners. 


[147] 


oO. STEPHEN S*CA RHEDRAL 


VIENNA 


St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Austria’s finest Gothic edi- 
fice, a chapel to St. Stephen, was begun in the twelfth 
century. ‘The present edifice, completed in 1506, was 
founded by Duke Rudolph, to whom also Vienna is 
indebted for its university. 

The spire is four hundred and fifty feet high, only 
a little lower than those of Cologne and Strassburg, and 
is covered with artistic stone carving and Gothic orna- 
mentations. At times, when the fate of the Austrian 
capital was trembling in the balance, the belfry was 
used as an observation station. There the Viennese offi- 
cials stood to watch the movements of the 200,000 
Turks under Kara Mustapha, who threatened it in 
1683. ‘The principal bell in the tower commemorates 
the victory of the Cross over the Crescent, since it was 
cast from the bronze of the hundred and eighty-eight 
cannon taken on that occasion from the Moslems. 

From the tower can be seen, adorning the steep roof 
of brilliantly glazed tile, the monster double-headed 
eagle of the Hapsburgs, measuring one hundred and 
eighty feet from tip to tip of wing, each eye composed 
of four large, gilded tiles. 

It was in this Cathedral that hundreds of mail-clad 
soldiers knelt before the great high altar to receive the 
sacrament of consecration before departing for the Holy 
Land to wrest from Moslem hands the sepulcher of 
Christ. Some who fell in such sacred expeditions were 
carried back to find eternal rest there. 


[148] 


HIS TORTC CCHURCHES 


The Cathedral contains, besides its extensive cata- 
combs and old imperial burial vault, many fine paint- 
ings and memorials. Its treasury is rich in antique vest- 
ments, finely carved reliquaries, and other relics. The 
high altar, built in 1647, of black marble has a famous 
painting of the “Martyrdom of St. Stephen,”’ by Anton 
Bock. The famous old bell, cast in 1711, the largest 
bell in Europe west of Russia, was first swung in honor 
of the entry of Emperor Charles VI into Vienna in 
1712. It requires twelve men to put it into motion. 





SAN AMBROGIO 


MILAN 


San Ambrogio, a Lombard church erected on the site 
of one that had dated from the ninth century shows, 
in the older part of its exterior, curious sculptures in 
which grotesque Scandinavian animals are mingled 
with Byzantine features. These correspond with sculp- 
tured ornaments found on some of the Rhenish 
churches, which would seem to indicate that Lombard 
workmen engaged in its construction had been em- 
ployed in Germany, and had there imbibed a taste for 
symbolic ornamentation. 

In the ancient crypt of this Romanesque church, in 
a silver shrine, rest the three saints, Ambrogio, Ger- 
vasio and Protasio. “The column at which they suf- 
fered martyrdom stands near. Behind the high altar, 
the canopy of which is borne by four porphyry pillars 
from a pagan temple, is a severe and stately marble 
chair, said to have been the coronation seat of emperors 
and kings, 


[149] 


LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 


ENGLAND 


Lichfield Cathedral, England’s ‘‘Queen of Minsters,”’ 
a small but beautiful red sandstone church, holds this 
title by virtue of its exquisite proportions, graceful out- 
lines and rich ornamentation. Its three symmetrical 
spires, by which it is preeminently distinguished, are 
styled ‘The Ladies of the Vale.’’ In them the beauty- 
loving eye sees rare feminine grace. Lichfield, a Cathe- 
dral of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is an ex- 
cellent example of decorated Gothic architecture. 

Tradition records the site of Lichfield as the spot 
upon which a thousand Christian martyrs were put to 
death at one time, during the persecutions of Diocletian 
and Maximian at the beginning of the fourth century. 
A field in the neighborhood still bears the name “‘Chris- 
tian Field.’’ Lichfield, etymologists say, means in 
Saxon, the “Field of the Dead.” 

Of the numerous beautiful objects enshrined in Lich- 
field perhaps none is more generally inquired for or 
holds more fascination, than does Sir Francis Chantrey’s 
“Sleeping Children,’’ an exquisite group of modern 
sculpture, celebrated alike by the poems of Mrs. He- 
mans, Jean Ingelow, and Sir William Lisle Bowles. 
The beautiful lines of the latter read: 


Look at those sleeping children! Softly tread, 
Lest thou do mar their dream; and come not nigh, 
Till their fond mother, with a kiss, shall cry, 


‘““Tis morn, awake, awake! Ah! they are dead.” 
[150] 


HIS PTORTENMCHURCHES 








Yet folded in each other’s arms they lie— 

So still—oh, look! So still and smilingly, 

So breathing and so beautiful they seem, 

As if to die in youth were but a dream of Spring and 
flowers— 

Mothers shall gaze with tears upon this monument, 

And fathers sigh with half suspended breath, 


‘How sweetly sleep the innocent in death.” 





ST. DAVID’S CATHEDRAL 


WALES 


St. David’s Cathedral, quite removed from the 
beaten track, “‘a magnificent relic of the past, with 
which the living seems strangely at variance,”’ lies in a 
deep moorland glen on a rocky peninsula jutting into 
the Atlantic, near a rude village grouped around a stone 
cross on steps. To all true Welshmen, St. David’s was 
the most sacred spot in Britain and two pilgrimages to 
the Pembrokeshire coast were considered equal to one 
to Rome. The old road which led to the Cathedral was 
called the Meidr Saint or Sacred Way. ‘The barren 
coast is still studded with ruins of chapels or hermit- 
ages which once served to remind the sailors and fisher- 
men of the sacredness of the soil they were passing. 
Ships lowered topsails as they floated silently by. 

Records of 812 refer to a predecessor of the present 
St. David’s as having been plundered and burned by 
the “‘Pagans.’’ The present Cathedral, erected prob- 
ably in 1180, was remodeled by Bishop Gower (1328- 
1347) in Middle Pointed Style. 


[151] 


LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 


WALES 


In Llandaff, South Wales, is another Cathedral, en- 
titled, like St. David’s, to interest, as Bumpus says: ‘‘as 
the representative of that mysterious British church of 
which no man can tell who was the founder—a church 
which was teaching Christian doctrine and discharging 
holy offices centuries before Gregory the Great made his 
memorable puns in the Roman Slave Market, or Au- 
gustine and his monks bore their silver cross along the 
road from Ebbsfleet to Canterbury.” 

It stood neglected and in ruins for three centuries 
and was restored in 1697. 

A painted triptych, ‘“A Nativity,” of 1861 by Dante 
Gabriel Rosetti, adorning this Cathedral pictures David 
as ancestor of Christ. Its Madonna presents for the 
first time the face of the woman who inspired much of 
the artist’s later work, Miss Bowden, afterwards Mrs. 
William Morris. 

The celebrated ‘Great Peter’’ bell of Exeter is said to 
have hung originally in this Cathedral. 


[152] 


CHURCH OF THE MADELEINE 


PARIS 


In Paris, city of beautiful churches, is another church 
fashioned in imitation of a Roman Corinthian Temple 
and dedicated to Glory. In 1763, Louis XV signed 
the letters patent for the erection of a church under- 
taken by the Empire for the accommodation of an over- 
flow from a smaller Church of the Madeleine. The 
Revolution prevented its completion, however. Work 
upon it was renewed in 1806, with the intention of 
making it a library or Pantheon. —The Emperor Napo- 
leon, however, discarded the original plan except that 
of the facade, and ordered its erection as a Temple of 
Glory, a gift from himself to his soldiers of the Grand 
Army. Again came delay, with 1814, so that the 
building was not completed until 1842. In architec- 
tural style, the Church of the Madeleine is a notable ex- 
ample of the classic. 


[153] 


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CATHEDRAL 


MEXICO CITY 


Many of the Churches of Mexico are architectural 
gems of the first water, that compare favorably with 
the noted Cathedrals of Europe, and he who forgets 
this overlooks one of the most important factors in 
Mexican history and civilization. 
—“The Old Franciscan Mission of 
California’’—James. 


In Mexico City, founded around 1325, and one of 
the most ancient cities of the New World, successively 
the capital of the Aztecs, Spanish vice-royalty of New 
Spain, and Republic of Mexico, a small church was 
erected as early as 1524. It stood on the site of the old 
Aztec Temple of Tenochtitlan (1446), the ancient 
name of Mexico City, it having been the royal com- 
mand to destroy all vestiges of heathen worship and 
build missions and churches in their stead. The first 
church on this historic spot, founded by Charles V, 
was replaced by a Cathedral in the reign of his successor, 
Philip II, of Spain. The present Cathedral Church of 
the Ascension de Maria Sanctissima, was erected over 
the spot where from the high altar of the Montezumas 
once ran the blood of human sacrifice, and is one of the 
largest and most sumptuous church buildings in the 
New World. It was commenced in 1573 and dedi- 
cated in 1667, but not completed until the early part 
of the nineteenth century at an expense of $2,000,000. 
The foundation of this massive structure of basalt and 
gray sandstone is said to be composed almost entirely 
of sculptured Indian images and some of the remains 


[159] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


of the great Aztec altar, or Temple of Sacrifice, which 
stood near. Its exterior is impressive, having a fine 
tower 176 feet high and two massive open towers each 
over 200 feet high, containing bells exposed to view, 
the most conspicuous landmark of the city. The plan 
is a cross 426 feet long by 203 feet wide, with numerous 
side chapels adorned with magnificent altars profusely 
decorated in gold, marble and precious stones. The 
facade, having three entrances flanked with the two tall 
towers, is an attractive blending of Ionic, Doric, and 
Corinthian orders in Spanish Renaissance. 

Built at a time when the church was a treasure house 
of wealth, the Cathedral commanded the best art of the 
world in both architecture and decoration. Priceless 
vases, images and ornaments of silver, gold and pre- 
cious stones adorned it. In 1857, the gold and jeweled 
statue of the Assumption was seized to provide funds 
for the new Republican Party. Its value was estimated 
at over $1,000,000. ‘The balustrade on each side of 
the central altar, with a top rail decorated with human 
images, is composed entirely of an amalgam of gold, 
silver and copper, for which an offer was made to re- 
place it with silver and pay $1,000,000 additional. 

Among its treasured paintings are several of Mu- 
rillo’s best works, and those of other celebrated Spanish 
artists. Its church bell, Santa Maria Guadalupe, is, ex- 
cept for the great bell of Moscow, said to be the largest 
in the world. - 

The Altar of Kings, made entirely of highly wrought 
and polished silver, is profusely decorated with crosses 
and ornaments of pure gold. In nearby aisles are 
buried many closely associated with the history of 
Mexico. Here before the altar on May 22, 1822, the 


[160] 




















CATHEDRAL, MEXICO CiTy, MEXICO. Interior. (See page 159) 





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first emperor of Mexico was crowned, and two years 
later he was buried beneath it. Here also the ill-fated 
Maximilian was crowned. He was shot in 1867 and 
his widow, Charlotta, went insane and in that state 
was still living in 1925. 

Hernando Cortez conquered Mexico about 1521, 
and after remaining for several years to consolidate his 
conquest, made a voyage back to Spain assured that 
Spanish sovereignty had been firmly established in the 
land of the Montezumas. Both Spain and the Church 
were quick to see the possibilities of Cortez’s achieve- 
ment and acted promptly. First of the Holy Orders of 
the Church to arrive were the Franciscans in 1524. 
They were followed first by the Dominicans and then 
by the Jesuits, and the Archbishopric of Mexico was 
established in 1545. 

While the nation colonized the church converted, 
winning many natives to Christianity. Schools, hos- 
pitals and asylums were established, and missions built 
around which have clustered many romances and 
legends. : 


[161] 


COLUMBUS CATHEDRAL 


HAVANA 


Le Cathedral de la Virgin Maria de la Concepcion, 
commonly known as Columbus Cathedral, erected in 
1724, is one of Havana’s chief monuments of historic 
interest. It is a large quaint structure in Spanish-Amer- 
ican style, built of native limestone, with a large dome 
and “‘stumpy”’ towers flanking the entrance. It occupies 
the site of an older church said to have been built by 
the Jesuits in 1704. “Two of the old bells in the tower 
are dated 1664 and 1698. 

The interior effect, rich in frescoes and pillars of 
marble, is impressive of age and spiritual grandeur. 
The floor is of variegated marble unencumbered by 
seats, the worshippers kneeling. The high altar is a 
magnificent piece of workmanship, consisting of a base 
of various kinds of harmoniously blended marble, and 
supporting a dome and pillars of porphyry, under 
which is a statue commemorative of the Immaculate 
Conception, which gives the Cathedral its official name. 
Side altars of old Spanish mahogany are richly carved 
and gilded. Pillars highly polished, strikingly relieved 
by gilt bronze capitals, give the semblance of deep red 
marble. Fine paintings of old Spanish masters make 
impressive decoration. 

The massive dome is decorated with paintings of 
Moses, the Prophets, and the Evangelists. A painting, 
said to be by Murillo, represents the Popes and the 
Cardinals celebrating Mass preparatory to the sailing 
of Columbus. Above the altar San Cristobal (St. 
Christopher), the Patron Saint of Havana, bears the 


[162] 








COLUMBUS CATHEDRAL, HAVANA, CUBA. 


(See page 162) 















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SAN DOMINGO CATHEDRAL, SAN DOMINGO. (See page 163) 








His ‘TORTCVCHURCHES 


Christ through flood. A famous side chapel is that of 
Santa Maria de Loretta, a reproduction of the shrine of 
Loretta in Italy, one of the famous shrines of Christen- 
dom. ‘The bones of Columbus, according to tradition 
first interred at San Domingo, and transferred to Ha- 
vana almost three hundred years after his death in 
Valladolid, Spain, in 1506, were enshrined in this 
Cathedral for more than a century. After the close of 
the Spanish-American War (1898) they were sup- 
posedly taken back to Spain. 

A mural tablet of white marble in the choir, bearing 
in high relief the bust of the “‘Great Discoverer,’ and 
appropriately decorated with grouped nautical instru- 
ments, indicate the place where Columbus’ bones long 
rested. Accompanying the tablet is the following in- 
scription :— 


Oh, remains and image of the great Colon, 
Endure for a thousand years guarded in this urn, 
And in the remembrance of our Nation. 


Under Spanish rule the Roman Catholic Church 
was the established church of Cuba. Since the Spanish- 
American War, Protestant denominations have been 
established there. 

San Agustin, formerly a monastery, built in 1608, 
is the oldest church in the city of Havana. 

Santa Catalina, built in 1698, contains the bones of 
the Martyrs Celestina and Lucida, brought from Rome. 

Santo Domingo was a Dominican monastery, 
founded in 1578 by Count and Countess of Casa Bay- 
ona, whose portraits adorn the sacristy of the present 
church. 

La Merced, built in 1746, is the wealthiest and 
most aristocratic church. It is embellished with rich 


[163] 


HISTORIC) CHURCHES 


marble altars, handsome chapels, and fine paintings, 
among which is the curious old painting giving it its 
name—‘‘Our Lady of Mercy.’ It represents a group 
of Indians being slaughtered by the Spaniards in 1493, 
and saved through the intervention of the Virgin, 
seated on a wooden cross with the Christ Child in her 
arms. A Spanish inscription in the corner relates the 
incident pictured in the painting. 

Belen Church, officially Santa Maria de Belen (Our 
Lady of Bethlehem), built in 1704, was originally a 
Franciscan church and monastery given over by the 
government in 1853 to the Jesuits, who set up an 
observatory said to be the best in Latin America; a 
library of Cuban history, and a museum of native 
wood and natural history specimens. 

All the above churches are in Havana. 





CATHEDRAL MOLY TURIN Intex 


QUEBEC 


Franciscan monks were the former proprietors of the 
land on which this edifice stands. On it they built 
Notre Dame des Anges. In 1629, Quebec was cap- 
tured and the monks went back to France. Not until 
1670 did they return to erect another chapel, which in 
1760 became an English church, succeeded in 1800 by 
the present English Cathedral. 

The exterior of Holy Trinity is substantial and 
plain. It stands in a well-kept Close. Its plan is con- 
sidered one of the best designs of Sir Christopher Wren, 
and similar to St. Paul’s, New York City. Its com- 
munion plate was a gift of the king. 


[164] 





CATHEDRAL, HOLY TRINITY, QUEBEC. 











MISSION OF CONCEPCION, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. (See page 165) 





MISSION OF CONCEPCION 


SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 


The missions of Texas, like those of Alta Cali- 
fornia, were almost exclusively Franciscan. Early rec- 
ords say that in 1690, Alonzo de Leon and Padre Man- 
zanet were sent to found missions, which were to serve 
the double purpose of holding the country and of con- 
verting the natives to Christianity. The primitive 
Mission, San Francisco de los Texas was founded not 
far from the Neches River, but abandoned because of 
pestilence, famine, drought and the continual raids of 
hostile Indians, who like the Indians of New Mexico, 
were less readily civilized than those of the Californian 
coast. For this reason the Texas missions were 
grouped, instead of separated by a day’s journey, as 
were those of California. 

San Antonio de Bexar, the first important settlement 
by Spaniards in Texas, and one of the several missions 
founded in 1716, became the center of the most pros- 
perous Texan missions. Prominent among these was 
the Mission of the Conception (Concepcion La Puris- 
ima de Acuna) some two miles from San Antonio, the 
shrine of early Texan history, and capital during vir- 
tually all the time of Spanish and Mexican occupancy. 
Situated on an elevation of some 700 feet, and supplied 
with an abundance of pure water, it is not strange that 
the “‘helmeted Spanish explorers and cowled Francis- 
can monks”’ selected it as a promising site for the per- 
manent and more successful labors of their garrison 
and mission. 


[165] 


PLES OR Gar Ge OReCe ri raas 


It was built in honor of Juan de Acuna, Marquis of 
Casa Huerta, Viceroy in 1722, and was established 
March 5, 1731. It is a stately structure, with two 
towers and simple, dignified front, and is considered to 
be the first mission in San Antonio. It is more famil- 
iarly known to Texans as “‘Old Conception Mission.” 


San Jose de Aguayo, founded in 1720, in honor 
of the governor, was on an elevated site overlook- 
ing the river below San Antonio and, we are told, sur- 
passed in magnificence every mission east of the Rio 
Grande. It was of the Moorish style of architecture, 
and its great glittering dome was visible for more than 
a hundred miles. Its interior was resplendent with 
richly carved and beautiful statues and decorative 
paintings, the work of a Moorish artist in Seville, 
whose ancestors, it is said, had decorated the halls of 
the Alhambra. This kingly mission of Texas, its dome 
fallen, its sculptured figures and decorations of outer 
walls mutilated by barbaric hands, stands today in sol- 
itary but grand ruin, a monument to the tireless efforts 
of Texan padres. 


The Alamo, Texas, ‘‘restless and movable shrine,”’ 
Texas’ most historically noted mission (founded 
1700), was located originally on the Rio Grande, un- 
der the name of San Francisco Solano. It was trans- 
ferred finally in 1744, after occupying other locations, 
to its present site. Until 1793 it was a parish church 
for the populace, and as a mission fortress witnessed 
the massacre of ‘‘Davy’’ Crockett and 178 other heroes 
of ‘Texas, on March 6, 1836. ‘This church has been 
characterized as ‘‘noted for history rather than sanc- 
tity.” 

[166] 


‘UOISSIYY PION] SOP SeXIT, ‘OWVTY AHL 
































HIS TGR lee Cru ReHES 


The Cathedral of San Fernando, built around a 
chapel of 1730 and amplified into a Cathedral in 1868, 
marks the center of San Antonio. ‘The oldest part of 
the Cathedral takes the form of an apsidal chapel, with 
stunted buttresses and a low, flat dome painted blue, 
giving it a decidedly Moorish effect. The facade of 
pointed arches and limestone walls has been so modern- 
ized as to leave one in doubt as to its original appear- 
ance. [he interior, with its vari-colored images, pic- 
tures, candles, statues, and its incense, still preserves a 
strong Latin-American church impression. 





TTEOCALLI 


GUATUSCO, COSTA RICA 


The Teocalli (House of the God) of Guatusco in 
Costa Rica suggests the appearance of the Teocalli of 
Tenochtitlan destroyed by the Spaniards, part of its 
site now being occupied by the Cathedral of Mexico 
City. 

It was a truncated pyramid 86 feet high with base 
325x250 feet. One passed five times around it by a 
series of terraces to reach the top. On the platform 
were ceremonial buildings and the terrible image of the 
god Huitzilopochtli (supposedly now in the Museum 
of Mexico City), and the sacrificial stone upon which 
it is estimated no fewer than 70,000 human victims 
were slaughtered at the dedication of the temple to ap- 
pease his bloody appetite. 


[167] 


OLD FRANCISCAN MISSIONS 


CALIFORNIA 


Before me rise the dome-shaped Mission towers, 
The white Presidio, : 

The swart commander in his leather jerkin, 
The Priest in stole of snow. 


The story of the old Franciscan missions of Cali- 
fornia reads like romance. Lower California, too, had 
its missions, thirty-three in all, monuments to the God- 
fearing, humanity-loving, and self-sacrificing Jesuit 
padres, Kino and Salviaterra, as were the upper (or 
Alta) California Missions of the Franciscan Padre 
Serra. The result of some hundred years of effort, 
their glory began to wane with the removal of the 
Jesuits by Charles III, in 1767. ‘The missions of 
Lower California were continued for a few years under 
the Franciscans, with Father Serra as Superior, assisted 
by his boyhood friend, Father Palou, and sixteen 
priests from the College of San Ferdinand, Mexico 
City. But the missions were finally left to the Domini- 
cans, and by 1825 had virtually disappeared. 

It was with the transfer of Padre Junipero Serra 
(1713-1787), to Alta California, that the Franciscan 
missions of that State-to-be came into existence. It had 
been the intention of Spain to colonize Alta California 
even as early as 1542, but not until 1769 had ‘“‘the full- 
ness of the time arrived.’’ From that time to 1822, Cali- 
fornia, like Mexico, was under the rule of Spain, but 
when Mexico gained her independence, she made Cali- 
fornia a part of her own territory. It was during that 
half century that the California missions enjoyed their 


[168] 


HiSThORVGsiGiur GHE'S 


most prosperous era uninterfered with by Spanish rule. 
Linked with the name of Father Serra, founder and first 
padre president of Franciscan Missions in California, 
is that of Don Jose Galuez, Visitador General of New 
Spain, the practical head of the first Franciscan mis- 
sionary expedition and a man of remarkable wisdom 
and force of character. He was true to his orders to 
“occupy and fortify San Diego and Monterey for God 
and the King of Spain.”’ 

San Diego, “‘the Plymouth of the Pacific Coast’ was, 
in 1769, the scene of Father Serra’s earliest mission, the 
first of the twenty-one Franciscan missions erected, a 
day’s journey apart, along “‘El Camino Real’’ (The 
King’s Highway) from San Diego to Sonoma, the last 
and most northerly mission, founded in 1823. Dur- 
ing these some sixty odd years, the mission acquired 
great wealth. “The Indians were induced to lead a set- 
tled life and become proficient in farming and other civ- 
ilized pursuits. Once the second leading mission, San 
Diego is now a ruin. Palms one hundred and thirty- 
six years old stand as silent guardians of its past glory 
and present desolation. Nearby is an abode house, 
called “‘Ramona’s Marriage Place,’’ where lived Father 
Gaspara, ‘‘a friend of the Indians,’’ immortalized in 
Jackson’s “‘Ramona’’ as the padre who married 
Ramona to her Indian lover. 


San Carlos Borremo, founded at Monterey, June 3, 
1771, bears the distinction of being the second mis- 
sion, and for seventeen years the home mission of 
Father Serra. It was the scene of his death in 1784, 
and his final burial place. Virtually an abandoned 
mission at the time of the Decree of Secularization 
(separation of the church from the State), it stands to- 


[169] 


His: TORTOVRC Hw hG@rr rs 


day one of the most faithfully restored missions, with 
facade complete, bells still hanging in the belfry, inte- 
rior in excellent repair. With an organ in its shallow 
transept and the high altar in its shallow apse, it is one 
of the finest types of Mexican architecture. Among its 
cherished possessions is the processional cross borne on 
feast days by Padre Serra. 


San Gabriel the Archangel, the fourth mission estab- 
lished, and because of its great wealth and power called 
the “Queen of Missions,’’ is today perhaps the most 
noted of all the missions, because of its location be- 
tween Pasadena and Los Angeles, and its famous Mis- 
sion Play. It was founded September 8, 1771. A 
few years later it was chosen by priests from the 
College of San Fernando, Mexico, as the site of a lead- 
ing mission to the Archangel. A generation or so 
later (1806) under Father Jose Maria Zalvidea, the 
padre so popular in “‘Ramona,”’ it entered upon its 
period of great prosperity. “Today it is in good repair 
and is visited by tourists, who view among other 
things of historic interest its famous “‘Old Mission 
Grapevine,”’ planted one hundred and thirty-four years 
ago and now covering a framework of sixty feet square. 
In the immediate vicinity eastward is the famous ranch 
of ‘Lucky Baldwin.’ ‘The San Gabriel Campanile, or 
bell tower, and its exterior stairway, are well known in 
picture, song and story. 

America’s ‘Passion Play,’’ enacted at San Gabriel in 
the Mission Play House, tells in accurate and fascinat- 
ing pageant-drama, the romantic story of California’s 
old Franciscan Missions and their ruin. An ancient 
mission bell announces the end of each intermission. 
The actors, native Californians, descended from old 


[170] 





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Spanish families, and Indians descended from converts 
under Franciscan fathers, live in quaint bungalows and 
old adobe homes in San Gabriel. The Franciscan 
monks, Spanish soldiers and Indian singers and dancers 
are natives, “‘to the manner born,” and also actors 
trained to the highest degree of perfection. Stage prop- 
erties are treasured heirlooms of old Mexican days. 
The premiére of this famous pageant-drama, written 
by John Steven McGroarty, a California poet and 
historian, took place on the evening of April 29, 1912. 
In 1914, it was taken to San Francisco and San Diego, 
but it has never been performed outside of California. 


Picturesque Santa Barbara, founded in 1786, with 
its refectory, dormitory and quaint old garden, still 
occupied by Franciscan monks, one of the most im- 
portant and best preserved of the California missions, 
is celebrated as the only one whose ministrations have 
not ceased since its founding which was in 1786. In 
the days of its prime, its prosperity was so great that 
its wealth was coveted by both Spain and Mexico. 
Among its treasured relics are paintings with which 
Indians decorated the walls and the old mission bells 
of which one writer in poetic fancy says: 


Bells of the Past, whose long-forgotten music 
Still fills the wide expanse 

Tingeing the sober twilight of the Present, 
With color and romance 


I hear you call and see the sun descending 

On rock and wave and sand, 

As down the Coast the Mission voices blending 
Girdle the heathen land. 


San Luis Rey de Francia, founded June 13, 1798, 
in the days of its glory and wealth the pride of all 


[171] 


HIST ORT COPCHURCG TEs 


the missions, was known as ““The Kingly Mission.”’ 
It possessed more than 200,000 acres with much more 
subject to its control. It owned and pastured an an- 
nual average of 20,000 cattle and nearly as many sheep 
under the care of some three thousand Indian converts. 
In the year 1834, this mission had thirty-five hundred 
Indians to support and more than 25,000 head of 
cattle, 10,000 horses and 90,000 sheep. It raised and 
harvested from its arable lands annually, in the zenith 
of its prosperity, more than 60,000 bushels of grain, 
and from its vineyards many barrels of wine. 


Other celebrated missions were San Juan Capistrano, ° 
built in 1776, and in construction and decoration one 
of the finest examples of mission building, and Santa 
Clara and Santa Inez, which last two speedily fell into 
ruins after the Decree of Secularization. 

This Decree, so disastrous to many early missions, 
was issued from Spain September 13, 1813, which, 
however, was not fully effective for twenty years. 
Spain never acknowledged the title of the priests to the 
lands, and decided to turn the mission estates into ad- 
ministrative districts. “The Decree directed that all mis- 
sions in America which had been founded ten years, 
should at once be given up to the Bishop “‘without ex- 
cuse or pretext whatever.’’ Despite the grace of twenty 
years, the scramble for the property and possessions of 
the missions immediately began and soon the missions 
were abandoned. 


[172] 














(See page 171) 


CALIFORNIA. 


, 


SION 


SANTA BARBARA MIS 











SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO MISSION, CALIFORNIA. 





SAN MIGUEL 


SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 


Santa Fe, “‘City of the Holy Faith,” is the site of the 
oldest church in the United States. For years after 
1606, when the Spaniards first settled there to work 
gold and silver mines, Santa Fe, the second oldest city 
in the United States, continued to be the heart of the 
great province of New Mexico, the Spanish capital, 
founded thirteen years before the Pilgrim Fathers 
landed at Plymouth Rock. Old records say that in 
1617 there were eleven mission churches there. (How- 
ever, even though in 1680 they catered to a population 
of 25,000, yet in importance, wealth, or influence, the 
New Mexico missions never compared with the other 
great missions of the eighteenth century in other prov- 
inces of Mexico. ) 

In the oldest part of Santa Fe stands San Miguel 
Church. The original edifice was an adobe mission, 
erected by the Spaniards in 1540, with walls extremely 
thick in an effort to withstand attacks of Indians. The 
present church was built in 1636. “Twelve years of 
desecration and desertion followed the Pueblo Indian 
revolt of 1680, in which the padres of some fifteen mis- 
sions were killed, and the church and the mission merci- 
lessly mutilated. In 1682, De Vargos, vowing ven- 
geance on the Indians, conquered them and set about 
repairing San Miguel, whose massive adobe walls were 
still standing. These walls, a part of the church re- 
stored in 1710, stand in Old Miguel today. A copper 
bell cast in 1350 hangs in the belfry. Inside the 
church are many highly prized relics, statues and paint- 


[173] 


HISTORIC WOCHU ROE S 


ings, among them St. Michael and the Dragon, and the 
“Annunciation.’’ Several of the paintings bear holes 
made by Indian arrows shot during the Pueblo insur- 
rection. 

The pictorial reredos was the artistic feature of the 
church, the plan of which is a coffin-like design seen in 
many Pueblo shrines, with walls narrowing toward the 
altar to form the apse and to provide space for the 
reredos. 

Other spots of historic interest in Old Santa Fe are 
the Rosario Chapel, marking the spot where De Var- 
gos made his vow to conquer the Indians, and an 
adobe hut, said to be the oldest house in America. In 
the ‘‘Palace’’ (an adobe one-story structure, a block 
long, built early in the seventeenth century), until 1909 
the residence of Spanish, Mexican and United States 
governors, General Lew Wallace finished “‘Ben Hur.” 
It now houses the Historical Society of New Mexico. 


[174] 




















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Paes Nien 





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ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE, QUEBEC. (See page 175) 





Sa ANNE DE BEAU PRRE 


QUEBEC 


In 1620 some Breton mariners, escaping from death 
in a terrible storm along the St. Lawrence River, in 
gratitude founded a little village and erected a rude 
church to St. Anne. In the course of time the rude 
little building decayed, and in 1658 a more substan- 
tial structure was built to take its place, on land do- 
nated by Etienne Lassard, a pious farmer. This church 
stood as the revered village shrine until 1776, when a 
third church was erected. This church stood for a cen- 
tury, and in 1876-1878 it was rebuilt and elaborated 
into the present fine structure. By Papal Decree, St. 
Anne had been named the Patron Saint of Quebec, and 
the name was reverently bestowed upon the great 
church that had been begun by the simple Breton sail- 
ors. In 1887, the Pope created it a Basilica. 

In its reconstruction the old plan of the church was 
closely followed. Most of the materials therein were 
used again, and the original tower and bells were re- 
tained. Above the foundation near the entrance to the 
chapel is a statue of Bonne Ste. Anne de Beaupre. 
There are eight large altars, gifts from as many Cana- 
dian bishops, and in the chancel are some beautiful 
stained glass windows. 

But it is not to its age or appearance that Ste. Anne 
de Beaupre owes its great and extended fame, but to 
its rare and sacred relics—bones purporting to be those 
of the Sainte herself, to see which miraculously cures 
“the sick and the lame, the halt and the blind.”’ 


[175] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


Early in its life the attention of royalty was at- 
tracted to the church sitting shyly back in the country 
about twenty miles or so from the city of Quebec, and 
rich gifts were lavished upon it. One of its most 
treasured possessions is a chasuble embroidered in gold 
and silver, made by Anne of Austria, Queen of France 
and mother of Louis XIV, ‘“‘Le Grande Monarque.”’ 
Another is a crucifix of solid silver, the gift of the great 
French explorer of 1706, Lamoine d’Imberville. 

For many generations pilgrims have journeyed to 
this shrine from all parts of Canada and the United 
States and even other lands, seeking cure for their ills, 
and many are the tales told of such cures. More and 
more persons journey thereto every year,—there have 
been viceroys and nobles, soldiers and sailors, proud ar- 
istocrats and humble laborers, Indians and fisher folk. 
One of the most celebrated of those who have made the 
pilgrimage was the first Bishop of Quebec, who. though 
a scion of an ancient and mighty race, the Barons 
Montmorenci de Laval, turned his back upon the glit- 
ter of the court to become a humble apostle among the 
Indians in the new world. 

The Basilica was burned in 1922. The corner stone 
of the new one was laid with imposing ceremonies July 
26, 1923, in the presence of more than fifteen thousand 
pilgrims, and five of these, sorely stricken, were re- 
ported to have been completely cured by the magic 
touch of the bones of Ste. Anne. 

Every year devout visitors swarm to this famous 
church for the Novena, or nine days’ devotions ending 
on Ste. Anne’s Day, July 26. 


[176] 





RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, SITKA, ALASKA. (See page 177) 





RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH 


SITKA, ALASKA 


Who would think in his search for ancient churches, 
to look in a part of the world which so lately was 
looked upon as a land of ice and snow, and of no par- 
ticular use except to trappers who would dare to pen- 
etrate its wilds to snare the animals whose rich, furry 
pelts would keep milady warm, or venturesome mari- 
ners who sought the seals along the coastal islands for 
the same purpose? 

When in 1867 the United States bought Alaska 
from Russia for $7,200,000, it was regarded as a sort 
of donation to the Czar, relieving him of an incubus 
and fattening his treasury. Its vast wealth, of which 
even now we have only glimpsed, was unsuspected. 
And yet it is in Alaska that we may still find a church 
that dates from about a century and a quarter ago— 
St. Michael’s, Sitka. 

The Russia-America Company charter of 1799 
stipulated that the Government should establish a 
church and maintain a military force in this distant 
possession. So the church came into being. At the 
zenith of Russia’s occupation there was a Greek Catho- 
lic bishop and fifteen ordained priests in Alaska, besides 
many deacons and missionaries, and the industry of 
bell making flourished, the bells going to missions and 
churches from Behring to Mexico. 

With the purchase of Alaska by the United States 
and the removal of the higher church executives, the 
church, dedicated by the Metropolitan of Moscow, 
waned. When in its glory, this church, its interior 


[177] 


HIS TORICG@CHURCITES 


“highly decorated in white and gold,’’ possessed superb 
treasures of jeweled caskets, chalices of gold and silver, 
and richly illuminated magazines and books. ‘There 
were massive silver lamps and chandeliers, censers and 
candlesticks. Vestments and robes were of velvet and 
old damask and the bishop’s cap was rich with rubies, 
pearls and amethysts. An enamel cross set with dia- 
monds was taken to San Francisco when the bishop left 
Alaska. 


[178] 


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CATHOEDRAMOROURSIEADY: OF 
GUADALUPE 


MEXICO 


A less pretentious place of worship than the Cathe- 
dral, but a much venerated church of Mexico, is the 
Shrine of Guadalupe, at the foot of the hill Tepeyac, 
two miles from the city of Mexico. This church is offi- 
cially known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guada- 
lupe (Church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe). 

The legend of its origin is that, on December 12, 
1531, the Holy Mother appeared to Juan Diego, a 
humble Indian shepherd boy of the neighborhood while 
he was resting at the foot of the hill on his way to Mass 
in the city. Following her summons from out the 
cloud enfolding her, the lad went nearer and she told 
him to tell the Archbishop that she wanted a church 
built to her on the spot. “The Archbishop, discrediting 
the Indian lad’s story, demanded a sign, sending his 
servant along to bear witness. Again the Virgin ap- 
peared. As a sign she told the shepherd boy to go to 
a certain barren rocky place where he would gather 
beautiful Spanish roses. “The roses, which he carried 
in his blanket to the Archbishop, resulted in the erec- 
tion of a chapel to enshrine the blanket, on which ap- 
peared miraculously the Virgin’s picture as the roses 
dropped out of it, while the shepherd boy again gave 
the Virgin’s message. The Shrine of Our Lady still 
treasures the old blanket as its chief relic. 

At the base of the hill is the Holy Spring, tradition- 
ally created by the tapping of the Virgin’s foot on the 
ground as she gave her command. 


[179] 


HIS TORTG (CHOR CHES 


In the graveyard of this old Cathedral lie buried 
many of Mexico’s honored dead, among them General 
Santa Anna. 

On December 12—celebrated as the feast day of the 
Virgin of Guadalupe—the Cathedral, chapel, and hill- 
side teem with devoted worshippers. 





OLD MISSION CHURCH 


MACKINAC ISLAND, MICHIGAN 


The church on Mackinac Island, Michigan, was the 
outgrowth of a mission station established in 1823, 
when Mackinac Island was a strategic point in mission- 
ary as well as military affairs and trading interests. It 
was built in 1829. 

Its motley throng, including Indians, Jesuit Mission 
pupils, fur traders, officers and soldiers, is vividly por- 
trayed in Washington Irving’s ‘“‘Astoria.”’ 

It is the same today as the day it was dedicated, even 
the gray weatherworn exterior is purposely left un- 
painted. It has a high pulpit, plain, square pews with 
doors, small panes of glass in the windows and the old- 
fashioned gallery at the entrance end. 

A favorite of lovers of old sanctuaries, Old Mission 
Church is now preserved ‘‘as an historic relic of the 
island and a memorial of early mission work and, sec- 
ondly, as a chapel for union religious services when 
summer tourists crowd the island.’’ It is said to be the 
oldest Protestant church in the northwest. 

It was on the veranda of the quaint hotel which was 
once the main mission building, known as the Mission 
House, that Dr. Edward Everett Hale begins his fa- 
mous story of ‘““The Man Without a Country.” 


[180] 


























ST. JOSEPH’S, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. (See page 181) 
Interior and Exterior Views. 





ST. JOSEPH’S 


ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. 


St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, 
contains several historic structures dating back to the 
first century of its existence. Prominent among these 
is St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which, with its quaint archi- 
tecture, vies with the most impressive churches of Latin 
America. In its belfry hangs a bell bearing the inscrip- 
tion, “Sante Joseph Ora Pro Nobis Do 1682.”’ 

From the eventful day—August 28, 1565—St. Au- 
gustine’s Day—on which Pedro Menendez de Aviles 
reached the coast of Florida, St. Augustine saw some 
two centuries of tempestuous history, with Indian dep- 
redations and buccaneering, evidences of which are the 
ruins of the old wall erected as a protection against 
Indian incursions, and Fort Marion, begun in 1656, as 
the Fort of San Marco. Among other pioneer vicissi- 
tudes was the destruction of the shrine of Nuestra 
Senora de la Leche, erected on the spot where Menendez 
and his explorers knelt in solemn Mass on the day they 
entered the harbor. In 1586 a parish church of wood 
was built. In 1646 another edifice was constructed 
and named Church of St. Augustine. This church was 
replaced by a stone edifice which was used until the 
completion of the Cathedral of St. Joseph in 1799. 

The old residence of the Spanish governors, now 
used as a Post Office, is reputed to be the oldest build- 
ing in the United States. 


[181] 


SAN XAVIER DEL BAC 


ARIZONA 


In Arizona, where on all sides one views reminders 
of a historic past, “‘ruined cliff dwellings, aqueducts, 
fortifications of a still older civilization and quaint 
missions of Spanish priests,’ stands the venerable mis- 
sion church, San Xavier del Bac, twenty miles from 
Tucson. This old church, built about 1654, is prob- 
ably one of the earliest shrines of the Jesuits, who as far 
back as 1540, with their proverbial zeal, energy and 
daring, had penetrated the hot and forbidding wilds 
of Arizona and New Mexico. Many who traveled 
hundreds of miles on foot through deserts, over moun- 
tains and sun-seared plains, enduring untold hardships, 
died, some at the hands of savages, leaving no perma- 
nent monument behind. 

In the interior of the present church, the facade of 
which reveals the obscure date of 1768, may be seen 
the domes and half domes of the old church, decorated 
with frescoes of angels and Bible characters. Painted 
and gilded lions on chancel rails recall St. Mark’s in 
Venice, appropriate to this old church of an architec- 
ture suggestive of Venetian-Byzantine style. 

Not far beyond the old church is the Papigo Indian 
Reservation, the most prosperous and fertile in the 
country. 


[182] 


MISSION DOLORES 


So it is popularly known everywhere, although it is 
properly San Francisco de Asis Solano. From the cor- 
rect name was derived that of the California City at 
the Golden Gate, where the ancient mission stands. 
The popular name is due to the fact that the site was 
chosen by Padre Palou, near a spring and creek which, 
in honor of the day he named the Arroyo de los 
Dolores. 

The mission was founded October 9, 1776, the 
year that marked the creation of so many missions in 
the far west while in the far east, the British colonies 
were waging a successful war for Independence, which 
was declared on July 4th, marking the birth of the new 
nation, which in time was to absorb the then disinter- 
ested Spanish lands on the Pacific. 

The Mission consisted of a church fifty-four feet 
long and a house fifteen by thirty feet, both of wood, 
plastered with clay and roofed with tiles. The next 
year, Father Serra paid his first visit to San Francisco 
and said Mass on the titular saint’s day, and then he 
stood and gazed out upon the limitless sea and said: 
“Thanks be to God that now our Father St. Francis, 
with the Holy Cross and procession of the missions has 
reached the last limit of California. To go farther he 
must have boats.” 


[183] 


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COLONIAL CHURCHES 


One of the elements of beauty in churches is asso- 
ciation. “The church of old, in village, town or city, 
was the heart of the community. There the people went 
to pray, to hear the Word of God expounded. In the 
church the babe was baptized or christened, the bride- 
groom received his bride, the funeral sermon was 
preached and in the yard, ashes were returned to ashes 
and dust to dust. 

The community church was a place of joy and sor- 
row, life and death, misery and comfort, turbulence 
and peace. It is so today in small towns and in quiet 
country villages, while the rush and bustle of modern 
city life has changed some of these characteristics. The 
churchyard burial ground has given way to the ceme- 
tery, but the church itself still functions otherwise as 
of old, and no doubt ever will. 

The old-fashioned church was the Colonial church. 
It was in many cases enriched not only by local and 
personal associations but memories of national im- 
port. It was reared amid the testing vicissitudes of 
pioneer days, and so it is a revered landmark of na- 
tional birth, development and achievement, and a mile- 
stone in spiritual progress. 

Born of the changing order of things and adapting 
themselves valiantly to it, the Colonial churches have 
been the struggle and victories of seekers after truth. 
To them, Lowell might well have written his challeng- 
ing lines: 

[185] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


New occasions teach new duties, 
Time makes ancient good uncouth; 
They must upward still and onward 
They would keep abreast of Truth. 
Lo, before us gleam her camp fires, 

We ourselves must pilgrims be; 
Launch our Mayflower and steer boldly 
Through the desperate winter sea. 

Nor attempt the future’s portal 
With the past’s blood-rusted key. 


[186] 


(/8] a6nd aay) “YA ‘NMOLSAWVE ‘VOIMAWY NI HOUNHD LNVLSALOUd LSU dO sNINY 











FIRST PROTESTANT CHURCH IN 
AMERICA 


JAMESTOWN, VA. 


Only a picturesque ruin, a tower now remains of the 
first Protestant church in America, at Jamestown, Va., 
a monument to those early English colonists whose first 
act after debarkation on May 14, 1607, was to engage 
in the worship of God. The first service, however, 
was not in the church, but under Virginia’s blue sky, 
before a reading desk formed by nailing a board be- 
tween two trees. In the words of John Smith: “This 
was our church until we built a homely thing like a 
barne set on crocketts covered with raftes, sedge and 
earth.”’ ‘This primitive house of worship, with its can- 
vas canopy for rude shelter and seats of unsawn timber, 
continued to serve the colonists until the fort and some 
cabins were built. “The services were conducted by the 
Rev. Robert Hunter, appointed chaplain of the Vir- 
ginia Company by the Archbishop of Canterbury after 
the ritual of the Established Church of England— 
“two services each Sabbath Day and communion 
every three months.”’ 

The church, a rude structure, erected by Captain 
John Smith, after his first exploration trip, was soon 
destroyed by fire. A new building was immediately be- 
gun, but the work was interrupted by the departure of 
Captain Smith for England and by destructive Indian 
raids. ‘The arrival of Lord de la War as Governor en- 
couraged the completion of the House of Worship. It 
was fitted and furnished with the choicest woods that 


[187] 


HIS MORLTOCW CHU RCT ES 


America’s forests could provide. “The Communion 
table and altar were constructed of black walnut. 
Pews, pulpit and shutters were of cedar. The altar 
was decorated for its dedication with the wiid flowers 
of Virginia. The baptismal font, later known as 
Pocahontas Font, now at Bruton Parish, at Williams- 
burg, Pa., “‘was hewed out like a canoe.”’ “Iwo full- 
toned bells from England called the worshippers to 
Sunday services and on week days to morning work 
and evening rest. Lord de la War appeared regularly in 
“full dignity of velvet and lace with bodyguard in rich 
attire and scarlet cloaks.’’ In April 1614, the native 
Princess Pocahontas, was baptized in the Christian 
faith and in this same little Church later was married 
to John Rolfe. There assembled the Council of 
Burgesses (1619), records of which make the follow- 
ing quaint note: 

“For as much as men’s affairs do little prosper where 
God’s service is neglected, all the Burgesses took their 
places in the quire till a prayer was said by the minister 
that it would please God to guard and sanctify all our 
proceedings to His own glory.”’ 

In 1639 the little wooden church was succeeded by a 
solid brick structure, fifty-six by twenty-eight feet, 
adorned by a square tower forming the entrance. In 
1676, occurred Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion against 
Governor Berkeley. During this strife Jamestown was 
burned and nothing was left of America’s first Protes- 
tant Church save its tower,—today’s picturesque ruins 
of ‘‘this first and most ancient landmark of the Protes- 
tant Church in America,’’ in whose adjoining church- 
yard lie buried the Governors of Virginia who died in 
office and the Rectors who served the little parish. 


[188] 


CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMAGE 


PLYMOUTH, MASS. 


The heavy night hung dark 

The hills and waters o'er, 

When a band of exiles moored their bark 
On a wild New England shore. 


What sought they thus afar? 

Bright jewels of the mine? 

The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? 
They sought a faith’s pure shrine. 


Ay, call it holy ground, 

The soil where first they trod, 

They have left unstained what there they found, 
Freedom to worship God. 


—‘‘Landing of Pilgrim Fathers,’’ Heman. 


The Mayflower Pilgrims, “‘these being about a hun- 
dred souls’ so said William Bradford in his ‘History 
of Plymouth,”’ halted at Plymouth Rock, on the shores 
of Cape Cod in 1620 to worship God, “‘before fear- 
lessly setting forth to conquer the unknown.”’ Among 
the number was William Brewster, at whose manor 
house in the little village of Scrooby, in Nottingham- 
shire, they had met to worship before leaving the 
Church of England and going to Holland (1608) to 
worship according to the dictates of their consciences. 

The first sermon preached in this country before any 
church was erected was delivered by Ruling Elder Wil- 
liam Brewster. On December 21, 1621, he preached 
the first Thanksgiving sermon, celebrated because of 
“our harvest being gotten in.’’ Soon at the top of the 
hill alongside Leyden Street, running parallel to the 


[189] 


HISTORIC) CHURCHES 


water front and named in honor of the Dutch city that 
had given them refuge, the first Meeting House was 
erected, also used as a fort. It was here that Governor 
Bradford and Captain Miles Standish worshipped with 
the other Pilgrim Fathers, invoking Divine blessing 
upon “‘this work which God of his goodness hath 
hitherto blessed.’’ In Pilgrim Hall (erected 1824) to- 
day may be seen Captain Standish’s sword and Gover- 
nor Bradford’s Bible. 

The site of Plymouth Pilgrim Meeting House was 
acquired in 1637 “‘somewhat”’ by virtue of an inherit- 
ance from one of the Colonists. At this time the first 
church was erected on the north side of Town Square 
according to an old deed. “The church was without a 
pastor for fifteen years, from the time Elder Brewster 
died in 1644, because of its inability to pay a minister 
of education and ability. “The membership, therefore, 
dwindled in numbers and enthusiasm until George 
Whitefield’s “‘great awakening’ which led to the build- 
ing of a new church in 1776. ‘The present Church of 
the Pilgrimage was erected in 1840 by another congre- 
gation near the site and in commemoration of the orig- 
inal Meeting House of the Pilgrims,—the fourth to 
house the descendants of the First Congregational So- 
ciety in America,—at which time the name “Church of 
the Pilgrimage’ was adopted. 

The church of 1776 had a bell taken from the old 
church, into which it was put at least as early as 1679. 
Church records of that time record an order “‘by the 
‘Towne for the Constable to take course for the sweep- 
ing of the Meeting House and the ringing of the bell,” 
and to pay an Indian for the “‘killing of a wulfe.”’ 


[190] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


The first Thanksgiving in New England was cele- 
brated in Plymouth. The celebration occupied three 
days, the English exploiting themselves for the enter- 
tainment of the Indians, who in return played their na- 
tive games and sports, and in other ways entered into 
the spirit of the occasion, to the delight of the colonists. 

In spite of the friendliness of the Indians, however, 
there was always some danger of an outbreak, hence 
Captain Standish marched with his armed guard to 
church and took his position at the left of the preacher. 

The Sabbath day in New England in those days was 
a bit severe. Men were required to be good by statute 
whether they felt like it or not. It is on record that a 
man was fined for carrying grist home on the Lord’s 
day, and the miller who let him take it was held equally 
guilty. Elizabeth Eddy, a cleanly soul, was fined ten 
shillings for wringing and hanging out clothes on that 
day, the austere judges not believing that cleanliness is 
next to Godliness. In 1658 James Watt wrote a busi- 
ness note in the evening. He could not wait until mid- 
night, possibly because it had to be done and he was 
getting sleepy, but it brought him the humiliation of 
public reproof. In Dunstable, a soldier suffered with 
chilblains, so he wet a piece of an old hat and put it in 
his shoe to ease the pain. As this happened on Sunday 
it cost him forty shillings, and history fails to tell us 
whether or not the chilblains were eased. 

It is difficult to reconcile such drastic measures with 
old Plymouth’s record of “exemplary generosity rather 
than severity,’’ in the application of theological doc- 
trine. 


[191] 


OLD NORTH CHURCH 


BOSTON 


He said to his friend, 

“If the British march 

By land or by sea from the town tonight, 
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch 

Of the North Church tower, as a signal light, 
One if by land and two if by sea, 

And I on the opposite shore will be 

Ready to ride and spread the alarm 

Through every Middlesex village and farm 
For the country folk to be up and at arm.” 


—‘‘Paul Revere’s Ride,”’ Longfellow. 


Old North was Boston’s second church, given im- 
perishable fame because of the lantern signals which 
were flashed from the belfry to Paul Revere when he 
started on his ride that aroused the New England col- 
onists to oppose the march of King George’s troops and 
to fire the “‘shot that was heard ‘round the world.” 

This church was actually founded upon the spirit 
that brought independence to the colonists. Its organ- 
izers had withdrawn from the First Church in 1650 
because of a difference of opinion among the congrega- 
tion over the beheading of King Charles I the year be- 
fore. “The new church stood for political and religious 
independence. Because of their locations the churches 
were designated North and South. 

A British Army officer referred to Old North as a 
“nest of traitors.’’ Had he said “‘rebels,’’ the title would 
have been warranted, when one considers the number 
of political mass meetings held under its roof, and the 


[192] 


Niet ee 








OLD NORTH CHURCH, BOSTON. 
Made famous by the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, April 18, 1775. 





HIST.ORIG¥CGHORCHES 


famous and fearless early pastors who presided over its 
religious, political and social life. 

Among these were Increase Mather, and his son Cot- 
ton, under whose pastorates it is said the church exer- 
cised more influence than any other in the country. 
The “‘free, strong, thinking, vital’’ Emerson, whose 
bust adorns the present church as one of its chief monu- 
ments to a celebrated past, was another of its influential 
pastors. ‘he first crusade against intemperance was 
presented in its pulpit by Henry Ware in 1840. From 
its pulpit were set forth relentlessly the duties of mem- 
bers as citizens and patriots as well as Christians. It 
was under Ware’s ministry, says Wallington, that the 
congregation separated from the orthodox Congrega- 
tionalists. 

The original building of 1652 was a square wooden 
structure having a high pulpit and stiff, high-backed 
pews, some with private entrances leading out into the 
street. [he church served also as a fire house and pub- 
lic arsenal. This building, destroyed by fire in 1673, 
was replaced in a year by a larger one, which served as 
the house of worship until 1775, when it was torn 
down and used for firewood by the British. 

In 1779 a union was formed between Old North 
Church and the “Brick Church,” an offshoot from it. 

Commenting on the Old North Church, Thomas 
Van Ness wrote: 


The Second Church has never stood for creed or 
dogma. It is now classified as Unitarian, yet its 
original covenant has never been altered or erased 
from the membership book. Just when the change in 
thought took place no one can determine. 


[193] 


HISMORTG we HOR OES 


Longfellow in his poem gave Paul Revere undying 
fame, which was his due; but he was not the only one 
that rode forth that night upon seeing the signal flash 
from Old North Church. “There was another staunch 
patriot with him, William Dawes; and while both 
planned to go to Lexington and Concord, they were to 
ride by different routes. Both reached Lexington, but 
it was Dawes who reached Concord. 

When the United States entered the World War, 
President Wilson wanted a business man and financier 
to purchase supplies for the Army, and summoned a 
Chicago banker, Charles G. Dawes, a direct descendant 
of William, to assume the task, giving him the rank of 
Brigadier General. “The President was a Democrat; 
the banker a Republican; but both were Americans to 
the core and actuated by a single purpose. When after 
the War, narrow partisan politicians in Congress 
sought to discredit the administration, and summoned 
General Dawes as a witness, he so picturesquely and 
contemptuously discredited them that he ended their 
efforts, and won the love of the whole country. 

In 1924, the American people elected him Vice Pres- 
ident, without any effort on his part, and the following 
April, 1925, when the one hundred and fiftieth anni- 
versary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord were 
celebrated, he, with General Pershing, Commander of 
the American forces overseas in the World War, at- 
tended, the new Vice President being the guest of 
honor. And on April 20 a cavalryman, impersonat- 
ing William Dawes, rode again over the route accom- 
panied by Vice President Dawes and General Pershing, 
in modern motor cars. 


[194] 


OLD SOUTH CHURCH 


BOSTON 


“Old South’ Church was the Meeting House in 
which some of the finest legislation in America took 
place. Within its walls in Colonial and Revolutionary 
times were spoken some of the boldest words of patriot- 
ism and from its rostrum went up the strongest of ap- 
peals that fanned into flame the fire which drove the 
British from the revolting colonies. 

Though the First and Second Churches (Old 
North) were already in existence, Old South was the 
first to stand out for the “‘new order of things.”’ At 
its town meeting, ‘‘the backbone of Colonial Legisla- 
tion’’ were passed some of the wisest laws of history. 
Old South is sometimes called ‘“The Church of the 
Town Meetings.” 

“Tt is one of the many glories of Old South Church,”’ 
says Wallington, “‘that with it originated the initial 
struggle to separate Church and State in our country.” 
The story of its origin bears this out. Some twenty- 
nine of the members of the First Church contended 
that citizenship should not be dependent upon church 
membership (the policy of the mother church holding 
that none could be freemen except church members and 
none but freemen voters) and formed a separate con- 
gregation. [hey were denied the right to do so by 
both the Church and the Governor, and so they ap- 
pealed to the selectmen of Boston, who granted their 
request. Then it was (1690) that there came into ex- 
istence the ‘“‘Meeting House of cedar, two stories high, 
with a picturesque steeple, standing on the green, 


[195] 


His PORTCROCMUO RR Cities 


amidst buttonwood trees.’ In this church, with its 
modest interior, lofty pulpit and high-back pews, Ben- 
jamin Franklin was baptized in 1706. In 1729 this 
building was destroyed and a more substantially built 
brick edifice erected in 1730, by the now strong con- 
gregation, and to whose spiritual life much fervor had 
been added by the preaching of the noted evangelist 
George Whitefield during the “Great Awakening” of 
1740. 

Dr. Joseph Sewall was pastor of Old South for sev- 
eral decades. In the original church Chief Justice 
Sewall, his father, made public confession and repent- 
ance for the part he had taken in the notorious Salem 
witchcraft. It was in this second church convened the 
series of town mass meetings, both before and during 
the Revolution, which have made Old South so his- 
torically famous, It became the “‘overflow-meeting”’ 
room for Faneuil Hall. From the largest mass meeting 
Boston had yet seen (June 14, 1768) over which John 
Hancock presided, went the petition to the governor, 
asking that the British frigate be removed from Boston 
Harbor. From Old South Church its assembly of citi- 
zens marched to the Boston Massacre. From another 
meeting in the church, equally eventful in American 
history, went many of the first citizens of Boston, 
dressed as Indians, on December 14, 1773, to partici- 
pate in ‘The Boston Tea Party.”’ 

The old church was desecrated by the British in the 
ensuing war. Burgoyne used it as a riding school dur- 
ing the winter of 1774-1775, appropriating the pews, 
gallery and pulpit for his camp fires and converting 
Deacon Hubbard’s “beautifully carved pew with its 
silken hangings’ into a pig sty. But today the church 


[196] 























(See page 195) 


OLD SOUTH CHURCH, AND WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON. 





HIS PORTORCHUR CIES 


stands much as repaired in 1776, and now serves as a 
Museum under the supervision of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society. 

The first preacher of Old South was the Rev. 
Thomas Thatcher, who came before the cedar Meeting 
House. It received its name “Old South” in 1817, 
when a new church, built near the old church became 
known as “‘New South.” 

There is a tablet upon the Old South Church, as 
follows:— 


Church gathered 1669 
First House built 1670 
This House erected 1729 


Desecrated by British troops 1775-6 





ST. MICHAEL’S 


MARBLEHEAD, MASS. 


St. Michael’s occupies the site of a church the corner- 
stone of which was laid in 1714. Wallington says 
that of the thirty-three persons contributing to the 
original building fund, twenty-nine were sea captains 
who brought over in their boats most of the material 
and equipment for the church. From the ceiling hangs 
a handsome brass chandelier, presented in those early 
days by the Collector of the Port of Bristol, England. 
The first organ, bought from St. Paul’s, New York 
City, is said to have been the one on which the inaugu- 
ral march was played when the Father of His Coun- 
try became the first President of the United States. It 
was Captain Blackler, of St. Michael’s, we are told, 
who commanded the boat on which Washington 
crossed the Delaware to fight the Battle of Trenton. 


[197] 


OLD SHIP CHURCH 


HINGHAM, MASS. 


Old Ship Church at Hingham, Mass., a quaint, re- 
ligious landmark dating from 1681, exemplified the se- 
vere taste and substantial workmanship of the early 
New Englanders’ Church architecture. This church 
underwent virtually no material change in more than 
two centuries. Rectangular, two stories high, and hav- 
ing a belfry, which served also as a lookout station, its 
peculiar appearance has given it its name, “‘Old Ship.” 
‘The massive pulpit, covered by a canopy, which also 
served as a sounding board, was reached by a steep 
stairway. Its rafters were uncovered. Its seats were 
plain wooden benches without backs. Not until 1817 
did stoves take the place of foot warmers. Separate 
pews were assigned to elders, deacons and the widow 
of the first pastor, and in 1763 to persons “‘skilled in 
music.’ In 1802 orchestral instruments (bass viol, vio- 
lin, flute, bassoon, clarinet) were added as “‘an aid in 
service,’ and in 1866 an organ. 

All town meetings and village gatherings were held 
in the old meeting house, in which on Sundays the 
Rev. Peter Hobart preached against the sin of hoop- 
skirts and women’s millinery, and in which on week- 
days ‘‘the congregation assembled to discuss means of 
avoiding Indian depredations.”’ 

In Hingham of old one member was taken to court 
for “common sleeping during public exercises on the 
Lord’s Day and for striking him who waked him. Since 
he was not sorry, he was sentenced to be severely 
whipped,’’ a favorite means of discipline. Not even 


[198] 





Oldest Meeting House in the United States. 


“OLD SHIP’? CHURCH AT HINGHAM, MASS., DATING FROM 1681. 





HISTORTC (GHORGHES 


aristocrats were exempt from it, though it was legally 
forbidden that “‘any true gentleman be punished with 
a whip, unless his crime be very shameful and his course 
of life vicious and profligate.’’ Speaking against the 
parson made one liable to have his ears cut off. 

“Old Ship’’ is the oldest Meeting House in the 
United States that is still used for the purpose for 
which it was erected and still remains on its original 
site. 

There was a still earlier Meeting House at Hingham, 
built soon after its settlement in 1635. It was the 
proud possessor of a belfry and bell, probably the first 
in the colonies, and was surrounded by a stockade to 
protect it from marauding red-skins, and perhaps, 
other possible enemies. Its nearest neighbors were the 
Pilgrims of Plymouth, and the two communities ex- 
changed visits by way of a trail through the forest. To 
erect a successor to this House of Worship in 1671, one 
hundred and forty-three persons were assessed a total 
of £430, an amount equal to about a third of the per- 
sonal property in the Plymouth colony. 





foe ei PEE CHURCH OF ENGEAND’ 


NEWPORT, R. I. 


“The Little Church of England” in Newport, R. I., 
later known as Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, 
was erected in 1702 under the sponsorship of Sir Ed- 
mund Andros, representative of King James II in the 
New England Colonies, New York, and New Jersey. 
At that time it was considered the finest structure of 
its kind. “Today it remains much the same, with its 
“big high-backed pews, the same pulpit raised high 
on its pedestal, and the original sounding board.”’ 


[199] 


FIRST CHURCH 


BOSTON 


Boston’s First Church, presided over in its beginning 
by John Winthrop, one of the four men originating 
its organization, numbered among its early leaders 
John Eliot and Roger Williams, respectively character- 
ized “The Faithful’ and ‘The Progressive.’’ The lat- 
ter left Boston for Salem, from which he later was also 
banished because of his too liberal views. Later John 
Cotton was called to the pulpit of the First Church. 

John Eliot, ‘““Apostle to the Indians,’’ a Puritan of 
Puritans, educated in Cambridge, “‘an acute gramma- 
rian,’ realizing the limited opportunity there for a non- 
conformist school teacher, migrated to the ‘“Wilderness 
of the West,’’ as our forefathers were accustomed to 
term the New World. 

The welfare of the Indians soon became his chief 
concern. He came in close contact with them in his 
Roxbury Church, and took an Indian belonging to 
Long Island into his family, who served as his inter- 
preter and taught him ‘“‘words.’’ From the Indian in- 
terpreter he learned to say the Ten Commandments, 
the Lord’s Prayer, and various passages from the Bible 
in the Indian tongue. 

With his pupils Eliot finally translated the whole 
English Bible into the language of the Massachusetts 
Indians, the English Society paying the expenses of 
printing and publishing it. The language of the 
Massachusetts Indians was chosen for the translation, 
since it belonged to the language of the Algonquins, 


[200] 














Mile ae oe : i secede ae 
SBS Se és oP “6 S Rogan 








FIRST CHURCH, BOSTON. 





FURS One Cer ren WG ries 


the branch of their race most widely dispersed in North 
America. “Two hundred copies of this Bible, known 
as ‘‘John Eliot’s Bible’ the first printed in the Western 
World, were issued in strong leather binding for the 
Indians. A fine copy was sent to Charles II, now the 
treasure of Jesus College, his Alma Mater at Cam- 
bridge, which erected a brick building called the “In- 
dian College.”’ 

The Bible was set up by an Indian named John 
Printer and was six years on the press. It was fol- 
lowed by an Indian grammar, Psalter, Baxter's “‘Call 
to the Unconverted,”’ and ““The Practice of Piety.”’ 

The zeal of the English Church for the Christianiza- 
tion of the Indians is suggested by the following old 
record: 


That the settlers maie wyne and incite the natives of 
the Country to the knowledge and Obedience of the 
onlie true God and Savior of Mankinde and in the 
Christian Faythe, which is our Royall Intencion and 
the Adventurer’s free Profession, is the Principall ende 
of this Plantacion. (Extract from first Royal Charter 
granted by Charles I to Massachusetts Colony.) 





UNITED CHURCH 


NEW HAVEN, CONN. 


The United Church, New Haven, Conn., with the 
Old South Church of Boston was among the first 
churches to separate State and ecclesiastical interests. 
Jonathan Edwards was associated with its pulpit. 


[201] 


KING’S CHAPEL 


BOSTON 


King’s Chapel, the fifth house of worship erected in 
Boston and the first Protestant Episcopal Church in 
New England, has been aptly characterized as the first 
missionary church on Puritan soil, persecuted by the 
Puritans and founded by force. “This suggests the 
story of its origin. 

Some sixty years had passed and there had been as 
yet no congregation of the Established Church of Eng- 
land in the Colonies, so in 1686, one day there ap- 
peared from the British frigate “‘Rose,’’ the Rev. Robert 
Ratcliffe, ‘“‘an established minister of the Church of 
England, together with the other members of a com- 
mission appointed by King James II to preside over the 
Church in America.”’ The Puritans refused to permit 
him to occupy any of their pulpits until they were 
roughly compelled by Governor Edmund Andros to 
do so. Ratcliffe was unable to buy from them even a 
plot of ground for his church, and so Governor Andros 
set aside a corner of a burial ground for his use, upon 
which in 1689 arose the first King’s Chapel, a small 
edifice of wood, enlarged in 1710. This building was 
found in a state of decay in 1741 and was succeeded in 
1753 by the present structure. During the building 
of this church the congregation worshipped in Trinity. 

The original King’s Chapel was attended by the 
royal governors until after the Colonies gained their 
freedom, at which time the church almost lost its name. 
It was known as the “‘Stone Church’”’ for a time and 
it is said that it again took its name King’s Chapel at 


[202] 


‘puryzuq MAN ul yomnys [edorsidg juejsaj01g Isiy 241 ‘NOLSOG ‘“IHdVYHD S,ONIM 











Hilo ORL Gee RONG HES 


the timely suggestion of one that it be considered the 
Chapel of ‘“The King of Kings.’”” The governor’s pew 
was twice as large as the others and gorgeously cano- 
pied. ‘The bill of lading for the organ installed in 
1756, which Handel is said to have selected, is still pre- 
served. 

The Boston Gazette and Country Journal of August 
30, 1756, announced its installation ‘“‘with sermon 
suitable to the occasion, prayer to begin at four 
o’clock.’’ The Bible in use today in King’s Chapel was 
given by King James II, who also presented a valuable 
communion service. 

With the coming of the Rev. James Freeman to 
King’s Chapel in 1782, to serve as lay reader, King’s 
Chapel was reborn Unitarian—with “‘less of ruffled 
sleeve, powdered wigs, velvets, chariots and liveries” 
than the chapel had witnessed in its pre-Revolutionary 
days. ‘This was the first official acceptance of the Uni- 
tarian faith on the part of a congregation in the United 
States. 

Not far from King’s Chapel is Boston’s famous 
“Liberty Tree,’’ which was at a later time doubtless 
ornamented in effigy by many who sat in King’s 
Chapel. In its nearby burying ground, said to be the 
oldest cemetery in Boston, dating back to 1630, lie the 
remains of the Winthrops and numerous other Colon- 
ial celebrities. 

The luxurious interior of King’s Chapel when com- 
pared to the rude simplicity of the Puritan Meeting 
Houses “‘was regarded,”’ says Wallington, “‘as a blot 
upon the soil of Massachusetts.’’ Banners, escutch- 
eons and coats of arms of the King, the Governor of 
Massachusetts, noble families of England whose mem- 


[203] 


HIS) OR DCigG PUR GC Hass 


bers occupied pews, adorned the walls. The Ten Com- 
mandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed were 
painted on the east wall, and the hourglass in an ela- 
borate brass stand, stood on the pulpit. 





FIRST CHURCH 


HARTFORD, CONN. 


The original congregation of this church were emi- 
grants from Braintree, Essex, England. Four years 
after their arrival in 1632 they migrated from Massa- 
chusetts to Hartford, “‘through the trackless land, driv- 
ing cattle before them, living upon milk and avoiding 
wild beasts and savages as best they could.’ They 
took with them their pastor and teacher, the Rev. 
Thomas Hooker, eminent among New England di- 
vines. ‘Their first meeting house, built in 1638, was. 
succeeded ten years later by a better edifice. In 1739 
a third house was erected near the site of the present 
building and was dedicated in 1807. “This Hartford 
Meeting House, unlike other New England churches, 
made no selection of seats for the rich and powerful. 
No collection box was passed; each left his contribution 
in the box on the ‘“‘Deacon’s Table’’ in front of the 
high pulpit. Among its members was Horace Wells, 
celebrated as the discoverer of the principle of anaes- 
thetics in surgery. 

With its early adoption of the “‘perfect equality,’ so 
boldly preached by its leader, the Rev. Thomas Hooker, 
the influence of the little Church of Hartford is said to 
have been “‘more far reaching than that of any other 
church of Connecticut.” 


[204] 


FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 


PROVIDENCE, R. I. 


The First Baptist Church of Providence had its first 
Meeting House in 1700, though the Baptist Society had 
been in existence since Roger Williams’ settlement of 
the town in 1639. For some sixty years the congrega- 
tion had been meeting in homes or out under the trees. 
The church was composed mainly of Williams’ friends, 
who had followed him from Salem, from which “‘the 
Welshman”’ had been ordered by the authorities of the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony to leave and ‘‘not draw 
others to his opinion.’”” Members of the Puritan so- 
cieties of Massachusetts joined him. Elected its first 
pastor, Roger Williams soon resigned to preach to the 
Indians, which he did for some forty years. 

Tradition tells of a cabin Meeting House in which 
Roger Williams began to preach when he first went to 
Salem, used for twenty-six years. It was ‘‘the shape 
of a haycock, with fireplace in the center, with smoke 
escaping from a hole in the roof.”’ 

The Meeting House of 1700 resulted from the la- 
bors, generosity and devotion of Pastor Pardon Tell- 
inghast, who was its donor and builder and who served 
some thirty-six years without salary. In 1726 an- 
other building was erected and used until 1774, when 
the present building came into existence, “‘a wooden 
building 80 feet square with graceful steeple at the west 
end (196 feet high) built after the design of Sir Chris- 
topher Wren’ and quite similar in appearance to the 
present church. 


[205] 


AIST O RDC PU Rrra 


The lofty pulpit and sounding-board are gone, how- 
ever. Seats are modern and the gallery for slaves has 
been replaced by a square loft. In 1850 the progres- 
sive congregation, with pride in their enterprise, re- 
placed candles and oil with gas. 

The inscription on the bell of this church recalls with 
significance former days when fashions were unham- 
pered in this church, and when men and women were 
privileged to wear what they chose. At that time Cot- 
ton Mather was regulating fashions in Boston ‘“‘accord- 
ing to what he thought godly.” 

Its quaint inscription reads: — 


For freedom of conscience this town was first planted, 
Persuasion, not force was used by the people; 

This church is the oldest and has not recanted, 
Enjoying and granting bell, temple and steeple. 


The bell was later recast and the inscription changed 
to read, ““This church was founded A.D. 1639, the first 
in the State and oldest of Baptists in America.”’ It also 
records Roger Williams as the first Pastor. 

Another tablet bearing the inscription ‘‘Built for 
worship and to hold Commencements in”’ suggests the 
close connection between Roger Williams’ Church and 
Rhode Island College (now Brown University) which 
it has long sponsored with a fine spirit of liberality, 
scholarship and culture. 


[206] 





FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, R. I. (See page 205) 





7 

i= _—~, 
vi? Gals 1h 
?- . 





ST. JOHN’S 


PORTSMOUTH. N. H. 


St. John’s Church marks the site of an earlier house 
of worship called Queen’s Chapel, so named in honor 
of Queen Caroline, wife of King George II of England. 
It was a wooden building erected on a site given for the 
purpose. In 1807, the present brick church was built. 
Longfellow has immortalized one of its former rectors 
in the ‘‘Poet’s Tale’ of his ““Tales of a Wayside Inn.”’ 
Near the town is located the old home of another of the 
characters celebrated in this poem, Governor Went- 
worth. 

Among the cherished relics of this church are a 
prayer book, a silver communion service, and a Bible 
(one of the four “‘vinegar’’ Bibles extant) sent by the 
Queen. 

The Vinegar Bibles are so called on account of a 
typographical error. They were published in 1717 by 
John Basket, “King’s Printer,’ of Oxford, England. 
The compositor set up “‘vinegar’’ instead of “‘vineyard”’ 
in the phrase ‘‘the parable of the vineyard.’’ Some vol- 
umes got into circulation before the mistake was no- 
ticed and corrected. “The other three of these faulty 
Bibles are owned by Christ Church, Philadelphia, 
Christ Church, Boston, and the Lenox Library, New 
York City. 

The Credence Table is made from the wood of Ad- 
miral Farragut’s flagship, the U. S. Frigate “‘Hart- 
ford,’’ on which he captured New Orleans. In 1836, 
after its varying vicissitudes, old St. John’s acquired 
the “Brattle Organ’”’ imported from London, 1713, 


[207] 


His TORTCWCHUR Gris 


another cherished relic, as is also the old bell, which 
summoned the ancient parish to church, taken from the 
French Cathedral of Louisburg, Cape Breton, success- 
fully stormed by Pepperell, April 4, 1745. “Twice re- 
cast, once by Paul Revere and later by his successor, the 
bell still rings the New England curfew from out its 
pleasing inscription: | 


From St. John’s steeple 
I call the people 

On holy days 

To prayer and praise. 


Washington’s visit to St. John’s, recorded in his 
diary of November 1, 1789, enriches the history of this 
church. On this occasion he is said to have been 
“clothed in black velvet ornate with jewelled buckles, 
and to have sat in Governor Wentworth’s pew, newly 
equipped with red plush cushions.’’ Washington’s 
note of this event concludes with “‘and in the afternoon 
I went to one of the Presbyterian or Congregational 
Churches.”’ 

At Portsmouth is also the Old North Church whose 
original meeting house was built in 1657 and served 
for fifty-six years with its first pastor, the Rev. Joshua 
Moody, a Congregationalist, and one of New Eng- 
land’s ablest divines. Governor Cranfield, a staunch 
Episcopalian, taking advantage of the Conformity Act 
of King Charles II, we are told, sent Mr. Moody to 
jail in Newcastle in 1683, because of the pastor’s public 
attack on a matter of civil injustice. He was released 
only upon consent to leave the Colony, much to the 
sorrow of his loyal parishioners. For ten years he 
preached in Boston, after which he returned to his old 
church, four years before his death. 


[208] 








ST. JOHN’S CHURCH, PORTSMOUTH, N. H. (See page 207) 











MEETING HOUSE-ON-THE-GREEN, LEXINGTON, MASS. (See page 209) 





MEETING HOUSE-ON-THE-GREEN 


LEXINGTON, MASS. 


Another equally historic New England church was 
Lexington’s Meeting House-on-the-Green, also closely 
connected with Revolutionary War events. ‘The orig- 
inal of the present building was built in 1714, when 
Cambridge Farms became Lexington, and costing some 
£500, has been referred to as a ‘‘barn-like edifice 
with no heat or steeple.’’ In this church preached the 
Rev. John Hancock, a Harvard graduate and a man of 
great intellectual capacity, who expounded to the con- 
gregation two discourses with an hour between, from 
carefully prepared manuscript, holding that ‘‘preaching 
without manuscript, and good sense, seldom go to- 
gether.” 

In 1794 the old church was replaced by a new one 
erected near its site, which in turn was replaced by the 
present building, the previous one having been burned 
down. A nearby flagstaff marks the site of the original 
Meeting House-on-the-Green, from whose bell tower 
sounded the alarm on the memorable morning of 
Potters L775. 

The Meeting House was used as an arsenal as the 
clouds of war loomed, and on the fateful morning 
Parker shouted to his soldiers: ‘‘Every man of you who 
is equipped follow me, and those of you who are not, 
go into the Meeting House and furnish yourselves from 
the magazine and immediately join the company.”’ 

The first Meeting House, built soon after separating 
from the mother church at Cambridge (1692)—a 
rude structure with wind and weather coming through 


[209] 


HISSDORICWCHOURCHES 





its unchinked spaces—cost about £300, contributed 
by forty-three persons representing twenty-two family 
names. Its congregation was not gathered in the 
shadow of the Meeting House but scattered about the 
lonely farms. Near by were the stocks, ready for use 
in enforcing its discipline. 





TRINITY CHURCH 


BOSTON 


While serving as rector of this church, Phillips 
Brooks gave to the world his ‘Queen of all Christmas 
hymns,” “‘O, Little Town of Bethlehem.”’ The story 
goes that the great basic truth, as expressed in its words, 
came to him on a Christmas Eve as he was standing 
with bowed head in the old Church in Bethlehem, close 
by the spot where, according to tradition, Jesus was 
born. 

The impression was so vivid and so intense that he 
did not need to commit it to paper. It was with him 
forever, and when he reached home he wrote it down. 

The hymn was first sung in Trinity Church, Bos- 
ton, as part of the Sunday School service in 1868, and 
from that day to this, it has held its high place as a 
Christmas song. The music for the hymn was written 
at Dr. Brooks’ request by the organist of Trinity 
Church. * 


* “Great Hymns and Their History,’ Gregory. 


[210] 








TRINITY CHURCH, BOSTON. 
Where Phillips Brooks, as Rector, gave to the world the famous Christmas 
Hymn,—"‘O, Little Town of Bethlehem.” 





OLD SOUTH CHURCH 


NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 


As early as 1635, Newburyport, Mass., held divine 
service beneath a majestic oak, under the leadership of 
the Rev. Mr. Parker, an English minister who remained 
pastor for forty-five years. “[he present meeting house 
bears the inscription on a memorial tablet, ‘Meeting 
House of First Presbyterian Society erected 1756.” 

The church records say that for some seventy years 
worshippers depended entirely on footstones for 
warmth, and a church law providing that the sexton 
should have twenty cents for each stone he “‘had to fill 
before service and remove after.”’ In 1819 wood stoves 
were purchased at an outlay of $100. Closely con- 
nected with this church from its beginning was the Rev. 
George Whitefield, a devoted friend of one of its pas- 
tors, the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, in whose home the 
noted evangelist died on the day he was expecting to 
preach in his pulpit. His body lies buried in a crypt 
under the pulpit and the church treasures his Bible 
among its relics. “The old church and eminent preacher 
are thus jointly celebrated in Whittier’s lines: 


Under the Church of Federal Street, 
Under the tread of its Sabbath feet, 
Walled about by its basement stones, 
Lie the marvellous preacher’s bones. 

* * * * 
Still, as the gem of its civic crown, 
Precious beyond the world’s renown, 
His memory hallows the ancient town. 


[211] 


CENTER CHURCH 


NEW HAVEN, CONN. 


This church (erected 1814) immortalizes in an his- 
toric stained glass window the story of its pioneer or- 
ganization (1639) under John Davenport and the 
seven elders who with him planned the original church. 
The pastor is represented preaching under the wide- 
spreading elms to the faithful flock,’ which he led 
through the wilderness from Salem to its Connecticut 
home. 

In the crypt of this church repose the mortal remains 
of the grandparents of President Rutherford B. Hayes; 
Mary Edwards, ‘‘the amiable and excellent consort of 
Jonathan Edwards,’ and ‘‘Margaret, first wife of 
Benedict Arnold, who died June 19, 1775.” 

On its historic green, sacred now to the three 
churches occupying its middle space, Benedict Arnold 
assembled the Governor's Guard to lead it to Cam- 
bridge to swell the patriot army. There Lafayette re- 
viewed troops and Washington passed on his way to 
Trinity Church. 

Pastor Davenport, we are told, ‘‘arrived at Quinni- 
piac (City of Elms) with twin determinations—to 
found a settlement which should be governed by the 
Church and to establish a great nucleus of learning.” 
The latter he realized through the earnest labors of the 
“scholarly and gentle’’ William Hooke, at one time 
Chaplain to Cromwell at Whitehall and preacher in 
Center Church, who “‘first took practical action toward 


[212] 











OLD SOUTH CHURCH, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. (See page 211) 





Peis PORT CS CHURCHES 


the establishment of Yale College.’’ ‘To this college 
John Davenport, known to the Indians as “‘so big 
study man,” left $1,000 worth of books. 





“OLD JERUSALEM” 


PORTLAND, MAINE 


This church, which has been known as “‘Old Jeru- 
salem’’ since 1821, when a special service was held for 
the sailors and seafaring folk, had its first building in 
1725, the members up to that time “being too poor to 
have a preacher and build a church.’ In 1740 a more 
substantial church was built, in the belfry of which 
hung its old bell of 1758, which, upon receipt of the 
news of the closing of Boston Harbor in 1774 rang 
for twenty-four hours, followed by all the other bells 
of the town. Since then, if there is any bell ringing to 
be done, the honor of starting it is reserved for “Old 
Jerusalem.”’ 

Enlarged and rededicated in 1761, the original 
church served until 1825. The present church has a 
chandelier, taken from the old one, suspended from a 
- cannon ball shot from an English fleet and lodged in- 
side its walls. “The convention which formed the Con- 
stitution of Maine met in ‘‘Old Jerusalem.”’ 





OUINGY | CHURCH 


QUINCY, MASS. 


Quincy Church, Quincy, Mass., built in 1827 of 
stone from President John Adams’ quarries, shelters 
the remains of that-President, his son, President John 
Quincy Adams, and their wives. 


[213] 


LITTLE DOVER MEETING HOUSE 


DOVER, N. H. 


The history of Dover Meeting House, erected in 
1639 by sturdy Dover fishermen and today succeeded 
by the First Congregational Church (built in 1829), 
records an amusing event significantly illustrating the - 
determination of the early colonists to submit to no 
“taxation without representation.’ In brief, a sheriff 
came from Massachusetts to collect taxes from Dover 
citizens, holding that Dover was included in his col- 
lectible territory. He was knocked down by a Bible 
hurled at him from the pulpit by a liberty-loving 
woman, who was also an enthusiastic member of the 
riot. The sheriff included in his report:—‘‘We were 
glad to escape with our lives.” 





FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 


SALEM, MASS. 


The First Congregational Church of Salem, Mass., 
organized in 1629, bears the distinction of having been 
the first Congregational Church entirely organized on 
the American Continent. Services were first held under 
a traditional tree, and from 1629 to 1634, in an un- 
finished building. Records refer to “A thatched, 
daubed, and patched-up little Meeting House used for 
services’ until replaced in 1670 by another, built on 
land donated by the town, the old Meeting House hav- 
ing been set aside as a “‘skoole house and watch house.”’ 
A third house was built in 1718 and occupied for over 
a hundred years. It was replaced by the present brick 
structure, dedicated in 1826. 


[214] 


OLD MEETING HOUSE 


CONCORD, MASS. 


In Concord’s “‘Old Meeting House,”’ the First Pro- 
vincial Congress met on October 14, 1774, with John 
Hancock as President, and its village green was the 
scene of the assembling of troops on April 19, 1775. 
The present Unitarian Church near its site was built in 
part of its timbers. The Rev. William Emerson, grand- 
father of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ministered in 1743 
to its congregation, the first of the preacher line of 
Emersons. 

Tthe General Court, in 1635, decreed that ‘‘no new 
building should be built more than a half mile from 
the meeting house.’’ “Thus according to Bacon, Con- 
cord was doubtless the first of the settlements arbi- 
trarily to build with the Meeting House as its nucleus. 





CHRIST CHURCH 


BENNINGTON, VT. 


Christ Church, Bennington, Vt., (dedicated 1762, 
served also as town hall, school and court house. In 
it the first State legislature met. It has been remodeled 
and still serves as a house of worship. 


[215] 


COLLEGIATE CHURCH (DUTCH 
REFORMED) 


NEW YORK CITY 


When the West India Company sent emigrants to 
America, it was its custom to send with them or soon 
afterward a pious schoolmaster, who in addition to 
teaching the children of the emigrants, presided at re- 
ligious meetings and read sermons until a regular 
clergyman could be assigned. In 1623, the Dutch es- 
tablished a colony at the southern end of New Amster- 
dam, or Manhattan. Five years later the Rev. Jonas 
Michaelius, assigned by the North Synod of Holland, 
arrived to assume that post, and upon his arrival the 
first Dutch Reformed Church in America was organ- 
ized, with about fifty communicants. Services were 
held in a room over a horse mill where the colonists 
ground their corn. 

Three years later, in 1631, the Dominie Everardus 
Bogardus arrived to officiate as the first regular min- 
ister, and this event was marked in 1633, by the erec- 
tion of the first church building of this congregation. 
It stood in Pearl Street on the bank of the East River, 
and close to it was erected a parsonage and stable. 

This edifice was succeeded, in 1642, by another, 
erected by Governor Kieft, and named the First Dutch 
Church of St. Nicholas, in honor of the tutelary and 
guardian Saint of New Amsterdam. To this ‘“‘Church 
in the Fort,’’ (The Battery), as it was referred to, the 
several Collegiate Churches now in New York City 
trace their origin. 


[216] 





COLLEGIATE CHURCH (Dutch Reformed) NEW YORK CITY. 





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A bronze tablet on one of its successors carries this 
legend:—"‘Site of Fort Amsterdam, 1626. Within 
these fortifications was erected the first substantial 
church on the island of Manhattan.”’ 

“On the front wall of The Church-in-the-Fort,” 
says Disosway, ““‘was a marble slab with this legend: — 
‘An, Dom MDCXLII W Keift Dir. Gen. Heeft de 
Gemeente dese Tempel doen Bowen.’ (In the year of 
our Lord 1642 W. Keift being Director General has 
this congregation caused this Temple to be built).”’ 

A similar tablet on the Marble Collegiate Church 
(Fifth Avenue and Twenty-ninth Street), reads that 
its work and worship on Manhattan Island began as 
early as 1614 and that its first house of worship was 
erected in 1633. In the belfry of this church, which 
served for some fifty odd years, hung, it is said, the first 
bell in the Colony of New Netherlands, bearing the in- 
scription: 


Dulcior E nostris Tinnitibus resonat aer 
P Henomy me fecit 1674. 


To the “Church-in-the-Fort’’ came worshippers 
_ from miles around, among them for twenty years the 
Dutch setlters from Long Island. (See ‘First Dutch 
Reformed Church, Flatbush’’). 

In 1693, a new brick church was dedicated in Garden 
Street, now Exchange Place, built upon a section of an 
extensive peach lot bought from Mother Drisius and 
““by far the most substantial and finest church yet in 
Manhattan.” ‘To this church was transferred the bell, 
pulpit and furniture of the old church. ‘The plate, 
communion, and baptismal bowl were made by Am- 
sterdam silverworkers, who hammered them from the 


[217] 


HISVORTG CHM GIES 


money and silverware sent from the colony for this 
purpose. ‘Ihe baptismal bowl has been used by the 
succeeding congregations of St. Nicholas. 

Walls and windows of the old church were decorated 
in vivid colors with the coats of arms of families of 
prominence in the congregation. For forty years or so 
the Garden Street Church (later called South Dutch in 
contradistinction to Middle and North, when they 
were established) was the only church of the Reformed 
faith in New Amsterdam. It had a quaint and inter- 
esting history from the time its nine trustees obtained 
the first charter ever granted to a religious organization 
in that colony (May 11, 1696). 

The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas at Fifth Ave- 
nue and Forty-eighth Street, descendant of the Middle 
Collegiate of 1729, dedicated in 1872, is one of the fin- 
est of Dutch Reformed churches, with ample endow- 
ment from fortunate real estate investments. It has a 
bell which had been made in Amsterdam in 1731, and 
had once hung in the Middle Collegiate Church in Nas- 
sau Street. During the Revolution the bell was taken 
to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for safe-keeping, and the 
British converted the church into a riding school for 
their dragoons. It was rung April 11, 1775, to cele- 
brate the election of a committee to choose delegates to 
the Continental Congress, and on July 9, 1776, when 
the Declaration of Independence was read to the Army, 
it pealed forth the glad tidings. 

When the war was over the church was restored to 
its original purpose, and the bell was run again July 4, 
1790, the day the church was reopened for services. It 
was tolled during President Lincoln’s funeral in 1865; 
on August 9, 1885 while General’s Grant’s funeral was 


[218] 


His GORLeG wy GhURGHES 


passing; at memorial services for President McKinley; 
on January 30, 1919 during the memorial services for 
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who had been a member 
of the Church of St. Nicholas, and during the funeral 
services of President Harding. 

The Collegiate Church, as a branch of the Reformed 
Church of America, takes its name from the “‘Church- 
in-the-Fort’’ custom, whose ministers exchanged their 
pulpits in rotation with their colleagues. 

The last Collegiate Church organized in New York 
City, Seventy-seventh Street and West End Avenue, 
has a cornerstone reading: —‘‘Organized ]628—Dedi- 
cated 1891.” 





SEICUN I YerG UR. EL 


FISHKILL, N. Y. 


Trinity Church, at Fishkill, N. Y., erected in 1769 
by the church organization of 1756 under the leader- 
ship of the Right Rev. Samuel Seabury, America’s first 
Protestant Episcopal Bishop, enjoys the added distinc- 
tion of having been the scene of the signing of the rati- 
fication of the Constitution of the United States by 
New York in State Convention. 

Bishop Seabury’s body lies in the little churchyard 
of St. George’s, Hempstead, L. I. 


The First Dutch Reformed Church at Fishkill, built 
in 1731 and later serving the Continental Army as a 
military prison, is the building alluded to by Cooper, 
as the prison in which Harvey Birch was confined. 


[219] 


CRINGRYe GOoURGE 


NEW YORK CITY 


Old Trinity Church, the mother church of the Epis- 
copal denomination in New York City, opposite Wall 
Street, the financial center of the world, enjoys the dis- 
tinction of being not only rich in historical association 
but also immensely wealthy. ‘The story of its wealth 
is the story of “‘Queen’s Farm,’’ the estate on which it 
is located, and a part of the Island of Manhattan pur- 
chased by Governor Minuit from the Indians in 1626 
for $24. Originally this famous “‘farm’’ belonged to 
Anneke Jans, whose poverty until the day of her death 
made Trinity rich. 

Anneke and her husband, Roeloff, arrived in New 
Netherlands in 1630 and settled at Fort Orange 
(Albany). In 1636 Roeloff received from Governor 
Van Twiller a tract of about sixty-two acres of “new 
land’ on Manhattan along the Hudson at the site of 
the present West Broadway and Canal Street. On this 
he built a small house, intending to make it his perman- 
ent home, but his plans were cut short by death and in 
1638, his farm became known as the “‘Dominie’s Bow- 
erie,’ Anneke having married Dominie Bogardus, New 
Amsterdam’s first regular preacher, at whose church 
she worshipped. Her second husband was lost at sea, 
and the poor widow, now with eight children, moved 
back to Fort Orange, where she died in 1663. 

The following year New Amsterdam became New 
York, and its language changed from Dutch to Eng- 
lish. ‘The ‘“‘Dominie’s Bowerie’’ became known as the 
“‘Dominie’s Farm,’’ and later, when made over to Gov- 


[220] 











TRINITY CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY. 
Opposite Wall Street, the financial center of the world. 





BS VOR GHURCHES 


ernor Lovelace, as the ‘“‘“Governor’s Farm.’ When it 
was confiscated in 1673 by the Duke of York, it was 
known as the “‘Duke’s Farm,”’ and when the Duke of 
York became James II (1685), it was called “‘King’s 
Farm,’ and given over to the raising of vegetables for 
the royal governor, who followed. In 1697, Gover- 
nor Fletcher, who greatly desired to advance Episco- 
pacy in the province, leased the ‘“‘Farm’’ to Trinity, at 
that time a little chapel at the fort called ‘King’s 
Chapel.’” “The Church paid an annual rental of sixty 
bushels of wheat. “The chapel stood on the west side 
of Broadway and a slope of green land behind it ran 
down to the Hudson River. 

In 1702, when Queen Anne came to the English 
throne, the property, at this time assuming the name 
“Queen’s Farm,” through the influence of Lord Corn- 
bury, the Queen’s cousin, was given to Trinity Church 
by royal patent dated November 20, 1705. Queen’s 
Farm, embodying all that tract of land lying between 
Vesey Street on the south and Christopher Street on 
the north and running from Broadway to the Hudson 
River, soon began to bring in a handsome income, as 
the southern end of Manhattan at that time was in- 
creasing rapidly in value. In 1738 ‘‘Queen’s Farm”’ 
was rated very valuable property, the greater part of 
which Trinity still possesses and appropriates to varied 
and extensive Christian service in the big city. 

It was in 1697, while sponsored by Governor 
Fletcher and his lease of “‘Queen’s Farm,”’ that the in- 
corporation of Trinity Parish was granted (May 6) 
—the third in date of formation among corporations 
of the City of New York and the first church known as 
Trinity was completed. It was a small square struc- 


[221] 


HISTORIC VGCHURGHES 


ture which was enlarged in 1737. ‘The congregation 
occupied this edifice until 1776, when the building was 
destroyed by fire, after General Howe’s seizure of the 
town. In 1788 a second building arose over the ruins 
and in 1841, the cornerstone was laid for the present 
Trinity, one of the earliest examples of revived Gothic 
architecture in the United States. In the adjoining 
cemetery are headstones carrying the names of some of 
the earliest settlers (one dating 1681), and heroes of 
Revolutionary War times. Notable among the dis- 
tinguished dead are Alexander Hamilton, “‘that great- 
est of all New Yorkers’ (died 1804), Robert Fulton, 
and Captain James Lawrence of the “‘Chesapeake’’ 
(1812). The bodies of those who died in the British 
prison ships appropriately rest in the churchyard of the 
first Church of England in New York City. 

Among the churches which Trinity has “‘mothered”’ 
are Grace'(1809), ;St:Paul’s):(1766)) Sts Jonnie 
(1807), St. Mark’s (1799) and St. George’s (1752). 

On August 23, 1756, the cornerstone of King’s 
Chapel, now Columbia University, was laid by the 
Governor of the Province on that section of ‘“‘Queen’s 
Farm,”’ “in the skirts of the city,’’ appropriated by 
Trinity to that purpose. 


[222] 


VRE y/ Mee Utes 


NEW YORK CITY 


St. Paul’s, opened for service October 30, 1766, is 
one of the most interesting and influential chapels of 
Trinity Church and one of the oldest church edifices in 
New York City, having miraculously escaped the dev- 
astations of war and fire. When Trinity and all its 
records were burned in 1776, St. Paul’s was saved and 
there, during the British occupation, Lord Howe, 
Major Andre, and many of the soldiers attended 
church. On his Inauguration Day, Washington at- 
tended church at St. Paul’s, and in his diary records: 
“Went to St. Paul’s Chapel in the afternoon.” “The 
organ that was played on the day of inauguration was 
afterward sold to St. Michael’s at Marblehead, Mass. 
Later President and Lady Washington went to church 
in their ‘‘coach and four.’’ Washington’s and General 
Clinton’s pews are today marked by tablets on oppo- 
site walls. 

Beneath the chancel of the church lies the body of 
Major General Richard Montgomery, hero of Quebec 
(1775). A memorial window sent from France by 
Benjamin Franklin, faces the monument. ‘The coat of 
arms of the Prince of Wales decorated the pulpit. 

An interesting news note in the New York Gazette 
of May 14, 1764, reads:—‘‘We are told that the foun- 
dation stone of the Third English Church, which is 
about erecting, is to be laid today. This church is 
112 x72 feet.” 

St. Paul’s, of American Colonial architectural style, 
is one of the rare instances of a stone building at this 


[223] 


HISTORI@ CHURCH Es 


period, the usual material being either brick from Eng- 
land or, more usually, wood, “‘both limited in carving 
and other enriching embellishment possibilities.”’ 





SUPE EE RES 


ALBANY, N. Y. 


In Albany, N. Y., in 1704, the first American ser- 
vice of the Established Church of England, with a set- 
tled clergyman was held. Prior to this the organiza- 
tion (later forming St. Peter’s) had met in a small 
building erected on the site of Fort Frederick about 
L675; 

From 1712 to 1715 the parishioners met in a 
Lutheran Church, kindly opened to them, at which 
time under the patronage of General Hunter, successor 
to Lord Lovelace, as Governor of New York, they 
dedicated the first English Church of Albany, succeeded 
by a larger one in 1802, and in 1859 by the present St. 
Peter’s. 

Queen Anne’s gift of a communion service to the 
“Little Chapel of Onondagas’’ suggests her intense zeal 
over the missionization of the Mohawk Indians in the 
interests of whom the English Society had sent out its 
first pastors and through whose efforts (1763-1766) 
the Book of Common Prayer was translated into the 
Indian language. 

Under the chancel of St. Peter’s lies buried Viscount 
George A. Howe, who was killed in the Battle of 
Ticonderoga, then Fort Carillon, in 1758. 


[224] 


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GRACE CHURCH 


NEW YORK CITY 


The original Grace Church (incorporated 1809) 
stood on a site of an early Lutheran Church erected in 
1702 and burned in 1776. In 1846, the present edi- 
fice was erected. Philip Hone, writing in his diary 
under the date of 1846, says of the second Grace 
Church: — 


A singularly pure and noble example of Gothic archi- 
tecture. This is to be the fashionable Church and 
already its aisles are filled with gay parties of ladies 
in feathers and mousseline-de-laine dresses and dan- 
dies with mustaches and high heeled boots; the lofty 
arches resound with astute criticisms upon Gothic 
architecture from fair ladies who have had the advan- 
tage of travel, and scientific remarks upon acoustics 
from elderly millionaires, who do not hear quite so 
well as formerly.. 


St. John’s also served parishioners in what was then 
one of the most fashionable centers of the town. 


St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery, is the outgrowth of a 
Dutch Chapel of 1660. It contains a memorial stone 
to Peter Stuyvesant, Captain-General and Governor- 
in-Chief of New Amsterdam, on whose “‘Bouwerie’’ 
(country estate), the church now stands. 


Prominent among other early churches fostered by 
Trinity are Christ Church (1794), French Church, 
Du Saint Esprit (1804), St. Stephen’s (1805) and 
St. Michael’s (1807). 


[225] 


“THE LITTLE GCHURGHFAROUND MRE 
CORNER” 


On December 20, 1870, while all Christendom was 
preparing to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of 
the Christ Child, George Holland, an eminent actor, 
passed away in his sleep in New York City. So high 
did he stand in the affections of his fellow players that 
they determined to pay him all honors. His closest 
friend was Joseph Jefferson, one of the greatest actors 
in history, and to him fell the lot of arranging for a 
fitting service. 

Jefferson sought the rector of a fashionable Fifth 
Avenue Church and humbly asked him to officiate, and 
permit the service to be held in his church. To Jeffer- 
son’s astonishment and chagrin, the rector haughtily 
refused, saying that he and his church could not be used 
for the funeral of an actor. ‘““There’s a little church 
around the corner that does that sort of thing,’ he 
superciliously told his visitor. 

“Then,’’ replied Jefferson, “God bless the Little 
Church Around the Corner.” 

The snobbish rector referred to the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church of the Transfiguration, —Itwenty-ninth 
Street and Fifth Avenue. To the little church went 
Jefferson, and when he explained his mission to the 
upstanding young rector, the Rev. George H. Hough- 
ton, he listened with sympathy and understanding, and 
opened his doors to the player folk, who assembled in 
strength to pay their last tribute to their dead friend. 


[226] 





“LITTLE CHURCH AROUND THE CORNER,’ NEW YORK CITY. 


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HISThORICT CHURCHES 


It was a little church, low and rambling, of modest 
brick, poor in money, but rich in the spirit of Godliness 
and human kindness; but the incident brought it un- 
dying fame which extends throughout the world. It 
became the Actor's Church. Player folk became its 
members. In it many were married. From it many were 
buried, among the latter Edwin Booth, Richard Mans- 
field, Dion Boucicault, Sidney Drew and Nat Good- 
win. Henry Irving, though a resident of London, be- 
came a member, as did John Drew, who still attends; 
and Sarah Bernhardt attended its services whenever 
she was in New York. 

Dr. Houghton continued to preside over the desti- 
nies of his little church and to confer his kindly minis- 
trations wherever needed for nearly fifty-three years 
after the Holland funeral, passing away full of years 
and honors in April, 1923. 

In honor of the event that gave it fame and as a 
memorial to Jefferson and Holland, particularly the 
former, on February 20, 1925, a magnificent stained 
glass window was unveiled in the presence of a throng 
of distinguished players and theatrical folk as well as 
men and women eminent in other walks of life, and 
the cord was pulled by Lauretta Jefferson Corlett, the 
little great-granddaughter of Joseph Jefferson. 

One half the window depicts Jefferson as “Rip Van 
Winkle,’ his most celebrated character, with his arms 
around the shoulders of George Holland; the other half 
shows Jesus, with his arms outstretched to welcome 
them to Paradise. Below are the immortal words, 
“God Bless the Little Church Around the Corner.’”’ In 
smaller lights are depicted five scenes from Washington 
Irving’s famous legend of the Catskills upon which the 


[227] 


HIS TORTC@ CHURCHES 


play, “Rip Van Winkle’ was based, and in them are 
included even the dog “‘Schneider,’’ and Rip’s tankard 
that he loved so well. It is one of the few church win- 
dows in the world portraying secular figures and scenes. 





CHURCH) ORT PHES BR EVER EIN 


GERMANTOWN, PA. 


The Church of the Brethren, more commonly re- 
ferred to as ‘““‘Dunkards,’”’ founded their mother church 
in America at Germantown, Philadelphia. “They ar- 
rived in this country in 1719, and by 1723, were gath- 
ered together in church organization under the leader- 
ship of Peter Bicker, their first elder and pastor. For 
many years they worshipped in the homes of members. 
In 1760, they occupied a log building in front of their 
first Meeting House. ‘The front part of the present 
Meeting House was erected in 1770 and the rear in 
1897, 


In Germantown is also the first Mennonite Church 
established in America. ‘The first Meeting House was 
erected in 1683, and William Rittenhouse, America’s 
first papermaker, was its first pastor. “The first build- 
ing was replaced by another in 1708, and in 1770, the 
present building was erected. “The pews of the original 
church are still in use, and the communion table is the 
same one upon which the first protest against slavery 
Was signed. 


[228] 


FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 


NEW YORK CITY 


More than two hundred years ago, half a dozen per- 
sons held a series of meetings in a little house in Pearl 
Street which led to the organization in 1716 of the 
present First Presbyterian Church of New York City, 
whose seal bears the inscription, ‘“The First Church in 
the State of New York.’ As they had no building, 
services were held in City Hall until their first church 
structure was erected in 1719 on the north side of Wall 
Street, between Nassau and Broadway, appropriated 
later by British troops as a riding school. In 1844 the 
cornerstone of the present edifice was laid. The church 
is of imposing fifteenth century Gothic style, its nave 
modeled after the Church of St. Savior at Bath, with 
handsome windows and west-end front tower in grace- 
ful proportions,—a copy of the Magdalen Tower at 
Oxford, England. The chapel was added in 1893. 

Among the officers and members of the First Pres- 
byterian Church were many prominent both in Presby- 
terian Church history and in city and State affairs. 
Princeton Seminary and the Presbyterian Hospital 
were founded largely through its efforts. It led in the 
organization of Church boards and was the mother of 
the “Brick Church,” Rutger’s Riverside Church, the 
Scotch Presbyterian and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian 
Church. The congregation enjoys the distinction of 
having been the first Presbyterian Church to organize 
as a religious corporation under the laws enacted by the 
first legislature of the State. 


[229] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 








In the vestibule is a large mural tablet of black slate, 
a relic of Revolutionary times, taken from the wall of 
the Wall Street Church. It reads: — 


Under the favor of God this edifice, sacred to the per- 
petual celebration of the Divine Worship, first erected 
in 1719, was thoroughly repaired and built larger 
and more beautiful in 1748. The Presbyterians of 
New York, founding it for their own and their 
children’s use, in this votive tablet dedicate it to the 
God who gave it. May it be yet more illustriously 
adorned by Religion, by Concord, by Love, by Purity 
of Faith, of Worship and Discipline. May it, by the 
favor of Christ endure throughout many generations. 





ST. ANDREW’S 


RICHMOND, STATEN ISLAND 


This church was erected in 1706 by an organization 
of Huguenots. It numbers among its cherished relics 
the original charter of the parish, old prayer books, a 
silver communion service, and an old bell sent by Queen 
Anne at the time she sent the Rev. Eneas Makenzie to 
serve as its first regular pastor. Previous to that the 
congregation had been served by a chaplain from the 
fort on Manhattan Island, who visited them from time 
to time to hold religious service in French, or for their 
Dutch neighbors in the language of the Netherlands, 
the form of worship being in either case that of the 
Church of England. 

A second church was erected in 1713, partly through 
the generosity of a joint land donation from Adolphus 
Philipse and Ebenezer Wilson, then ‘“‘Mayor of New 
York.’’ The present building, also erected in pre- 
Revolutionary times, occupies the site of the original 
church. 


[230] 


(1€2 abpd aag) “*SGsT parreq ‘“ALID WHOA MAN ‘HOUNHD LSIGOHLAW LAAULS NHor 





ee 


eee 














JOHN STREET METHODIST CHURCH 


NEW YORK CITY 


American Methodism recognizes as one of its oldest 
sites that on which the John Street Methodist Episcopal 
Church stood, built in 1768, by Philip Embury, a car- 
penter from Ireland. A later building took its place. 
This in turn was torn down in 1818 to give place to 
the present building in 1848. Its extreme simplicity 
was in keeping with a provision in the Discipline, read- 
ing:— 

“Let all churches be built plain and decent and with 
free seats as far as possible; but not more expensive 
than is absolutely unavoidable; otherwise the neces- 
sity of raising money will make rich men necessary 
to us, and if dependent upon them and governed by 


them, then farewell Methodist discipline, if not doc- 
trine too.” 


Methodism was long ago solicitous not to be known 
as a rich man’s church. 

The structure built by Embury was the first Metho- 
dist preaching house in America, but St. George’s, Phil- 
adelphia, is the oldest still standing. “The one to which 
we now refer, was of ballasted stone covered outside 
with stucco, and whitewashed inside, built at an esti- 
mated cost of some six hundred pounds sterling. The 
high pulpit, resting on a single pillar, was reached by 
a winding stair. [he fronts of the gallery and altar 
were white. A plain carpet covered the altar and pul- 
pit stairs. In the altar were two wooden benches, a 
few chairs and a plain table. Lamps with sperm oil 
provided light, and round, high stoves, heat. ‘The 


[231] 


FETS DO REC CE ORIAr Eo 


book board was without cushion and the floor uncar- 
peted. [he windows had green blinds outside and on 
the men’s side were rows of pegs on the wall for their 
hats. ‘The seats were wooden benches with narrow 
strips for the backs. 

If a man, arriving late, entered the women’s side, the 
sexton would order him to his own side even during 
the service. 

What is known as the ““Old Book’”’ of John Street 
carries some curious and interesting facts. Among 
these, are items for care of Preacher Williams’ horse, 
cost £3/16/1, anda feather bed and bolster £7/16/4; 
clothing for Boardman £7/10, and to carry him to 
Philadelphia £2. Another charge is for a top hat for 
the preacher. 

Robert Strawbridge, Embury’s associate, who like 
himself had come to the New World “‘driven not by 
persecution but by necessity of seeking more adequate 
income for his family,’ after putting together a cabin 
for his family at Sam’s Creek, Maryland, next built a 
log Meeting House, the first place of Methodist wor- 
ship in Maryland. 





CHRIST CHURCH 


SHREWSBURY, N. J. 


This church, erected July 21, 1769, was organized 
by the Missionary Society of the English Church with 
difficulty because of the strong feeling of the indepen- 
dent Quakers, Presbyterians and Baptists of the com- 
munity against the Established Church and remains a 
triumph over early parish struggles. 


[232] 


OL DRE ENNEND CHURCH 


MONMOUTH BATTLEFIELD, N. J. 


About 1692, a sturdy body of Scotch Covenanters 
erected a rough log church at Wickatunk, New Jersey, 
cutting the lumber for it in the forest about them. It 
was known as the Old Scot’s Meeting House. In 1731 
they deserted their first church and built another about 
five miles south, on White Hill, so called because of the 
number of white oak trees that grew thickly about it. 
One of these trees still stands. 

The first acre of ground for this church was obtained 
from William Ker for ‘‘the sum of one shilling, current 
money of the province,’’ and the deed is still preserved. 
The new church, which was destined to become one of 
the most historic in America, was forty feet long and 
thirty feet wide, with galleries. “Ihe communion table 
from the first church was taken to it, and it is there 
yet. Its pastor was the Rev. John Tennent, whose 
ministry was brief, for he died in 1732. He was suc- 
ceeded by his brother William, who served it for forty- 
three years. 

How William was led to enter the ministry through 
his visions during a remarkable trance is one of the 
cherished traditions of this church. He always averred 
that in that trance he visited Heaven and witnessed the 
glories of which he so ably preached for many years. 

Its first charter was granted in 1750 under King 
George II. In 1751 the new and present building was 
erected to accommodate the steadily growing congrega- 
tion. This building is just twice the dimensions of its 
predecessor, but with interior virtually unchanged. It 


[233] 


HISTORIGHCHORGHES 


is of the solid and enduring white oak that grew by its 
side, sheathed with cedar shingles, with a high, steeply 
slanted roof and neat little spire of colonial design. 

The Rev. William Tennent lived to see his country 
declare itself free from the Mother Country, but not to 
see his beloved church the center of a bloody and im- 
portant battle. He died in 1777, and was buried un- 
der the center of the floor because it was feared that if 
placed in the churchyard his staunch support of the 
patriot cause might lead to the desecration of his grave 
by the British. 

It was on an intensely hot day, June 28, 1778, that 
through Washington's strategy the British faced disas- 
ter, only to find relief and the opportunity to escape 
through the blundering of General Charles Lee, and it 
was in the shadow of Old Tennent that the Great 
Commander lost his temper and roundly cursed his sub- 
ordinate. 

The wounded of both sides were carried into the 
church and laid upon the pews, some to have their hurts 
dressed and be started on the road to recovery, and some 
to die. Under the cushions of some of the pews the 
stains of their blood are still to be seen. The dead 
were buried in the yard that now stretches its broad 
and tenderly cared-for acres in all directions. Among 
them was the brave young English officer, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Henry Monckton. Half a century later Wil- 
liam D. Wilson, a Scotchman, who had become a 
school teacher in the vicinity, erected a board tablet 
over the grave. Later this was replaced by a tombstone 
by Samuel Fryer. Since 1913 his grave has been deco- 
rated by the British Flag every Memorial Day, an at- 
tention which brought forth grateful acknowledgment 


[234] 

















OLD TENNENT CHURCH, MONMOUTH BATTLEFIELD, N. J. (See page 233) 





HISTORIC, GHUOURCHES 


from the 7th Viscount Galway, the dead soldier having 
been the second son of the first to bear that title. 

Less than a mile away from the church is the well 
from which Molly Pitcher drew water which she car- 
ried to the American gunners, only to take the place of 
her husband when he fell overcome by the intense heat. 

Old Tennent still carries the bullet holes made in it 
during the battle. One of Washington’s chaplains, the 
Rev. Dr. John Woodhull, who participated in the bat- 
tle, the next year was called to take the pulpit that had 
been vacant since the death of Dr. Tennent, and Dr. 
Woodhull remained for forty-five years, or until his 
death, November 22, 1824. 

In 1786 the church was re-incorporated under the 
laws of New Jersey. In 1859 its corporate name was 
made ““The First Presbyterian Church of the County 
of Monmouth.” In October, 1920, the title was 
legally changed to “Old Tennent Church.” 

Until 1815 there were no stoves in the church, the 
worshippers keeping themselves warm with their own 
foot warmers, or tin-lined boxes holding pans of live 
coals covered with some ashes. 

One of the features of this church is the New En- 
- dowment Plan, by which persons or organizations may 
endow a pew in honor of some friend or distinguished 
citizen. Among those so honored are George Wash- 
ington, the Rev. William Tennent, General Bartolome 
Mitre, first President of the Republic of Argentina, 
General Ulysses S. Grant, President Roosevelt, Herbert 
Ward, the English explorer, Captain Louis L. Le- 
febvre, Governor Franklin Fort, of New Jersey, and 
Governor John W. Dana, of Maine. 

“Old Tennent”’ is the Mecca of thousands of visitors 
every year and is well worth a visit. 


[235] 


OLD DUTCH SLEEPY HOLLOW 
CHURCH 


TARRYTOWN, N. Y. 


It stands on a knoll surrounded by locust trees, almost 
rectangular, hip roof, small belfry, and at either end 
vanes as old as itself.—IJrving. 


Conspicuous among the old buildings of Tarry- 
town, N. Y., made famous by Washington Irving’s 
“Sleepy Hollow,’ are the Dutch Reformed Church, 
dating from 1685, and the Flypse Manor House erected 
a few years earlier. “This venerable church owes its 
origin to Vredyk Flypse, known as the “Dutch Mil- 
lionaire,’’ a carpenter who became wealthy in fur trad- 
ing, and the owner of large tracts of land along the 
Hudson. The bricks in the chimney, the little flat yel- 
low bricks around the windows, and its bell were 
brought over from Holland in his own trading vessels, 
the old Burgher having established a substantial trade 
between New Amsterdam and England and Holland. 
In 1697, the Rev. Guiliam Berthoff came from Holland 
to serve as the pastor of the Pocantico Church, so called 
from the river by which the church, the Manor House, 
and the Flypse Mill stood. 

Walls of stone thirty inches thick insured the per- 
manency of the Sleepy Hollow Church. Windows 
seven feet above the ground were protected from the 
Indians with iron bars. ‘The interior was simply 
fitted with a huge pulpit and sounding board, and seats 
without backs, except those on either side of the pulpit, 
which were originally intended for the members and 


[236] 


_ Moo] Adaajg,, 8 Burary uo uryse~y Aq snowy sprpy 
Oe Nie NWOT RR, eb Ho Ter Ow Gece 








HIS RORTCS CEURGHES 


guests of the Manor House and were later appropriated 
by the elders and deacons. A gallery was provided for 
slaves and ‘‘redemptioners,’’ the latter poor settlers who 
had sold their services in payment of passage over. The 
historic bell bears the title ‘Si Deus pro nobis, quis 
contra nos.’ Services are open to visitors during the 
late Summer and early Fall. 

A plate in the west wall of this quaint church 
says:—‘ ‘Built in 1699,” but the little bell in the belfry 
is inscribed ‘“‘Amsterdam 1685,” and coffins beneath the 
floor bear plates dated from 1650 to 1660, so that the 
conclusion is that it was built earlier or else there was 
an earlier church. 

The First Reformed Church of Tarrytown, which 
now owns ‘‘Old Sleepy Hollow,” has in its possession 
the old communion table brought from England— 
massive oak inlaid with ebony—-solid-silver beakers, 
two plates, and a baptismal bowl, the gift of its founder 
and his wife, Frederick Phillip, ‘“‘Carpenter from Fries- 
land,’’ and Catherine Van Cortlandt. 

In the graveyard of this church, ‘Sleepy Hollow 
Cemetery,’ with numerous moss-covered stones in- 
_ scribed with epitaphs in the old Dutch language, lies 
Washington Irving. There rests also an old sailor, 
buried in 1768, who, evidently, judging from the 
homely, home-made poetry on his tombstone, had 
navigated the seven seas in the days of the clipper ships. 
It reads: — 


Boisterous Winds and Neptune’s Waves 
Have tost me to and fro 

By God’s Decree, you can plainly see, 
I’m harboured here below. 


[237] 


OLD SWEDES’ CHURCH 


WILMINGTON, DEL. 


Six days labored the folks, and when rose the sun of the 
Sabbath, 

Rifle and plough were dropped, and the wheel stood 
still in its corner, 

Then from near and from far, to the Churches three of 
the province, 

One at Tinicum, one at Wicaco, one at Christina, 

Gathered the congregation’s God-fearing men and their 
households. 


—‘‘Songs of New Sweden,” Arthur Peterson. 


William Usselincx, founder of the Dutch West In- 
dian Company, which had figured in the colonization 
of the New World, withdrew from that organization 
because, it is surmised, he was unable to contribute suf- 
ficent money to obtain a dominating share in it. He 
thoroughly understood the project, and in 1624 went 
to Stockholm and with little difficulty interested King 
Gustavus Adolphus in his plans. These involved or- 
ganizing a trading company along the lines of the 
Dutch concern, and the King readily assented. 

In fact, the King grew enthusiastic over the project 
of planting colonies on the Delaware, extending his 
own kingdom and influence as well as carrying the 
Gospel to heathen lands. He proposed the founding of 
a free state, ‘“where the laborer should reap the fruits of 
his toil, and where the rights of conscience should be 
inviolate.”’ But before he could accomplish much, 
Gustavus Adolphus was drawn into the Thirty Years 
War, and fell, in his moment of victory, at Lutzen, in 
1632, leaving his little daughter Christina to reign, un- 


[238] 








OLD SWEDES’ CHURCH, WILMINGTON, DEL. 





His FORIGy GHURGHES 


der the guidance of the astute Chancellor Oxenstierna. 
One of his last acts was to urge that the colonization 
plan be carried out. 

Oxenstierna acted promptly on behalf of his young 
charge and Queen. Usselincx was made director of the 
company and assured of a royalty of a tenth of one per- 
cent on the company’s traffic, and Peter Minuet was 
selected to command the first expedition. Minuet passed 
up the Delaware and landed at the Minquas Creek, 
where he immediately began the erection of a fort, 
within which were a church, store and houses. Minuet 
called the colony New Sweden, the fort, Fort Christina, 
and the creek, the Elbe; but the people called the latter 
the Kristina Kill, from which is derived the name it 
now bears, Christiana Creek. From this center the 
Swedes tilled the soil of Pennsylvania, Delaware and 
even New Jersey, and from it grew Delaware's chief 
city, Wilmington. 

On or near this site, some sixty years later, was dedi- 
cated on Trinity Sunday, 1699, Holy Trinity Church, 
“Old Swedes’ ’’, one of the three early Swedish Luth- 
eran Churches springing from the original fort church, 
and claiming the distinction of being among the oldest 
active places of worship in the United States. “The site 
and the glebe for the church were donated by John 
Jacob Statcop, one of the church wardens. The build- 
ing, a notable example of early Colonial architecture, 
whose builder and architect was the Rev. Eric Bjork, a 
Swedish Lutheran priest and Provost of the Swedish 
Church of Christina, commemorated relationship be- 
tween the church in America and in Sweden, and the 
leaders of the Thirty Years War. 


[239] 


HISTORIC FCHURCHES 


The pews were not distributed according to worldly 
possession or social position, but in honor of the length 
of time and the importance of service given by pew 
holders, to the erection of the church, the pews descend- 
ing from generation to generation. 

With the exception of the strengthening of the walls 
in 1750, “Old Swedes’ ”’ remains today much as when 
originally constructed. “The town, first known as Fort 
Christina, later was named Willingston in honor of 
Thomas Willing, and from this was evolved Wilming- 
ton. ‘Thomas Willing was the owner of a large tract 
joining the church glebe, and a devout parishioner. 

In 1758, when applying for a new minister from the 
homeland, the church requested that he “‘might occa- 
sionally preach in English, as Swedes and English were 
so intermingled that it was necessary that religious in- 
struction be given in both languages.’’ In 1789, it 
followed that “‘Old Swedes’ ’’, up to that time under 
the jurisdiction of the Swedish Lutheran Church, be- 
came a parish of the English Church, so largely had the 
proportion of its English-speaking people increased 
since 1748, when it began alternating services in the 
English and Swedish languages. 

In its churchyard lie the dead of many generations 
and of almost every religious denomination, some 
16,000 persons, many of them pre-Revolutionary. 
The oldest tombstone is dated 1656. A whole section 
is devoted to graves of French refugees who fled here 
from San Domingo before the Revolution. Among 
those resting in this old churchyard is Bishop Alfred 
Lee, prominent in ecclesiastical history, who as a trib- 
ute to his knowledge of Holy Scripture, served on the 


[240] 


BISMORTES CHURCHES 


American Committee for the Revision of the King 
James Bible. 

On June 15, 1924, the church celebrated its two 
hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary. In connection 
therewith a writer in the Philadelphia Evening Bulle- 
tin on June 12, said: 


The church is a precious gem of ancient Swedish 
Church architecture, little changed by time except for 
the subtle charm that only great age can bring. The 
walls are heavy gray stones, unrelieved by ornamenta- 
tion inside and out. The church floor is heavy, red 
brick, while the oak high-back box pews lend the last 
sombre touch to the interior. 

Wandering out of the Churchyard the pilgrimage 
ends by the back of the Christina River, at the steam- 
boat landing, where the old rock upon which the 
Swedish settlers landed on March 29, 1638, is pre- 
served behind an iron railing. It stands near the old 
entrance of Fort Christina, about which the life of the 
early settlement was grouped. Here the Old Swedes’ 
Church had its beginnings, in a log chapel standing 
nearby, which has long since disappeared, like the race 
of sturdy men who lived through those first bleak 
winters of gloomy fortitude. 


In his ‘“The Children of the Lord’s Supper,’’ Long- 
fellow pictures the First Communion as celebrated by 
the Swedes, a beautiful reminiscence of early Swedish 
church days and customs in the New World. 


[241] 


GLORIA DEI (OLD SWEDES’) 
CHURCH 


PHILADELPHIA 


In spite of constant conflict between the Swedes and 
the Dutch, with the English eventually joining in, the 
Swedes slowly extended their settlements and influence, 
eventually erecting a settlement at Wicaco, now part 
of Philadelphia. “There was no church near it, and in 
1675 Governor Andros ordered that one should be 
built there. “The site selected was what is now Chris- 
tian and Swanson Streets, and the Rev. Jacobus Frabit- 
ius was assigned to its pulpit. It was Philadelphia’s 
first House of Christian Worship and first clergyman 
to minister to the spiritual needs of its people. 

This pioneer of churches in Penn’s “‘towne’’ was as 
much a fort as a place of devotion. It was built on the 
order of a block house, from which, if occasion arose, 
the worshippers might protect themselves from savage 
Indians—a necessity, however, that seldom, if ever, 
arose. 

In 1696, at the request of many of the Swedish set- 
tlers along the Delaware for clergymen, King Charles 
IX directed Dr. Olaus Suebilus, Archbishop of Upsal, 
to assign two, and equip them with supplies of Bibles, 
prayer books, hymnals, etc. “The Archbishop there- 
upon sent the Revs. Eric Bjork and Andrew Rudman 
to assume charge of the churches at Christina and Wic- 
aco, and the Rev. Jonas Auren to study and make a re- 
port on colonial conditions and needs. Mr. Rudman 
assumed the Wicaco pulpit; Mr. Bjork the Christina. 
Their letters home showed keen enthusiasm over their 


[242] 








, PHILADELPHIA. 


GLORIA DEI (Old Swedes’) CHURCH 





‘ 5 “ id + vai Te 
, : ae aT ALP be “ y if 
‘ Ps | 1 int? 
on vou. iy tal od 
: VO t 
: : “if 
f e's rj ; r 
i ’ j 
Be Ls Seer as cocina 
, 7 oi ak 
peathy Gish haley 4 an a ena 
= 7 0°) ‘ 7 e. I" mi 


His hPORTCR? CHURNGHES 


tasks and great admiration for the lovely land to which 
they had been sent. 

About 1698 the block house church at Wicaco was 
burned, and while an effort was made by some mem- 
bers to have a new church erected elsewhere, it was 
eventually decided that the old site was best and the 
present edifice was built in 1700 and opened for wor- 
ship July 2 of that year. The ground occupied by the 
church and burial ground was donated by the widow 
and daughters of Sven Svenson, from whom they had 
inherited it, and from whom the street was named. 

This church was named Gloria Dei. It is of stone 
and brick. At first it had a low tower but no spire, 
and the porches were not built until 1703. ‘The spire 
was added when the church acquired a bell already old. 
The present bell bears this inscription: 


Cast for the Swedish Church in Philadelphia 
Styled ‘“‘Gloria Dei,”’ 
Partly from the old bell dated 1643 
I to the Church the living call 
And to the grave do summon all. 


In June, 1719, the church bought twenty-five ad- 
jacent acres from Martha Cock for ninety pounds. 
Later it acquired ninety-six acres on the Schuylkill 
River banks. Had the church held possession of this 
property it would today be very rich and growing 
richer, although the lands have not acquired anything 
like the value of those held by Trinity Church, New 
York. But poor business management brought about 
their loss as the years rolled by. 

In 1703, the Swedish King sent to the church a 
quantity of Bibles, prayer and hymn books and other 
religious equipment. 


[243] 


BUSI RO RIV Geir re 


English settlers began to attend services in Gloria 
Dei, and Dr. Bjork came to summarize his sermons in 
their language. As early as 1710 the congregation lent 
their church to the English, who as a mark of apprecia- 
tion sang their first hymn there in Swedish. In the 
course of time, as the English population grew and the 
Swedish waned, the English came more and more to 
use it, and in 1831, it became a regular church of the 
Protestant Episcopal denomination. 

In the churchyard lie many of Philadelphia’s earliest 
residents, and some of considerable distinction. Among 
the latter is that eminent ornithologist, Alexander Wil- 
son, who expressed a desire that his body lie there “‘so 
that he would forever lie in a silent, secluded place 
where birds would always sing above his grave.” 

The birds sing above him, but his tomb is neither 
silent nor secluded, for a stone's throw away great 
steamships from distant lands now discharge or take 
on their cargoes and their myriads of travelers; the 
mighty river teems with traffic, and great trains vir- 
tually pass its doors to convey the discharged cargoes 
to their several railroad lines, thence to distribute them 
throughout the land. 

Gloria Dei is its official title, but to Philadelphians 
it is ever affectionately known as Old Swedes’, and is 
one of the most cherished possessions of that city of 
Penn that is so much richer than all its American sisters 
in historic treasures. 


There, as she mounted the stair to the corridor cooled 
by the East Wind, 

Distant and soft on her ear fell the chimes from the 
belfry of Christ Church, 

While intermingled with them across the meadows 
were wafted 


[244] 


(Z2¢2 abd aag) “VIHA TACGVTIHd (,2P2MS PIO) IAG VINOTD AO YOIMALNI 

























( Vv Wiad : 
¥ > ) ak 
ial: > a 
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a i nN ’ Ae . aie saa 
es ¥ ' ey , 7° a ad 
j : SUTP s ee Pat 
A ‘ ‘ ay bis j F a | Ne 
) j : ry a 
‘ i j 7 a ‘ * 
ier dS 
4 bi . a 
. pay Pe ' 
- ie why . i ; 
i jf ; oh 
j y dl f , et 
4 i wal ’ 4) 
a ? , ‘ ; ve 
= ' 
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+ nag 
sh ih 





REO ON orm hte A) FOSS EP Eas 


Sounds of psalms that were sung by the Swedes in 
their church at Wicaco. 


—‘‘Evangeline,’’ Longfellow. 





SWAMP CHURCH 


NEW HANOVER, PA. 


This church, on or near the site of the original church 
at Falkner’s Swamp, bears the distinction of being the 
House of Worship of the oldest German Lutheran con- 
gregation in the United States, according to the report 
of the pastors of the United Congregation in Pennsyl- 
vania to the authorities in Halle. Previous to the erec- 
tion of the first church, completed in 1703, the congre- 
gation had been gathered and services held with more 
or less regularity, probably from 1694. 

The primitive church remained in use until 1721, 
when it was replaced by one more commodious, which 
served until 1747. ‘The fourth and present building 
was erected in 1768. It was considered of such im- 
portance that the Synod met at New Hanover, Novem- 
ber 6, 1747, to take part in the festivities of the dedica- 
tion. 

German immigrants had been arriving in America 
singly and in groups for fifty years prior to 1700, and 
after Penn’s coming they began to arrive in larger num- 
bers. But as early as 1638, fifty-four German families 
settled chiefly at Olney and Falkner’s Swamp, so named 
for the Rev. Daniel Falkner, who led a large number of 
them into the new land as the representative of the 
Frankfort Land Company. ‘These formed the nucleus 
of the Swamp congregation, of which Falkner was the 
pastor, the first of a German Lutheran congregation in 
America. 


[245] 


MERION AND HAVERFORD 
MEETINGS 


In the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia there are 
many Friends’ Meeting Houses, and two of these bear 
the distinction of being the only buildings in the world 
in which William Penn himself preached. 

The first of these, and probably the oldest in the 
world, is the Merion. This was built in 1695 by 
Welsh Quakers in Lower Merion Township, Mont- 
gomery County. It is at the corner of Montgomery 
Avenue and Meeting House lane, on the opposite side 
of the former from the borough of Narberth, and in it 
is still the wooden peg upon which the great Founder 
was accustomed to hang his hat. It is a tiny structure 
of stone. 

The second is Haverford, which lies south of that 
suburb. It was built in 1700 and enlarged a century 
later. While larger than the Merion Meeting, it is still 
small, and if anything, plainer. 

Still a third of these ancient Meetings is that of Rad- 
nor, at Ithan, builtin 1718. It is larger than its neigh- 
bors in which the founder preached, and like them and 
all others erected by followers of George Fox, built to 
last apparently forever, of substantial lumber and en- 
during stone. 

In connection with Friends’ Meeting Houses, the 
following from Lippincott’s “Early Philadelphia’’ is 
both informing and apropos: 


Philadelphia owes its origin to religious persecution. 
It was undertaken as a “‘Holy Experiment.” 
Penn went about the colonization of his province 


[246] 











FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE, MERION, PA. 
One of the only two buildings standing in the world in which 
William Penn preached. 





SWAMP CHURCH, NEW HANOVER, PA. (See page 245) 
Oldest German Lutheran Congregation in the United States. 





HisimOonRTGTCHURGHES 


i 


in a business-like way and with great advertising skill. 
He issued a series of immigration pamphlets in the in- 
terest of his project with a scrupulous regard for true 
statements and simple facts without exaggeration. He 
described the plentifulness of timber, game, and com- 
modities, and granted all legislative power to the 
people and government. No law was to be made or 
money raised but by the people’s consent. 

It is plain to be seen what a sensible man Penn was 
and how earnestly he hoped for the success of his 
“Holy Experiment’ without great material gain for 
himself. He described what to take on the journey, 
its cost, and what was first to be done on arrival. 
This was serious business, a journey in a little boat 
for two months on a great sea to an almost unknown 
wilderness, and they must not delude themselves with 
an expectation of ‘“An ImmediateAmendment of their 
Conditions.” 

Indeed, he says, they must be willing to do with- 
out conveniences for two or three years. The passage 
money was six pounds a head for masters, five for 
servants and fifty shillings for children under seven 
years. 

The earliest emigrants arrived before Philadel- 
phia was surveyed. [hey stopped at Upland, now 
Chester, which was peopled by the Swedes and some 
English Quakers from Jersey. Philadelphia was lo- 
cated in 1683, “having a high and dry bank next to 
the water, with a shore ornamented with a fine view 
of pine trees growing upon it.”’ In this bank they 
made caves to shelter their families and belongings 
and then went out into the wilderness with a warrant 
of survey to choose their land. 

Upon his return to England in 1685 Penn wrote a 
further description of the province, telling of the 
divers collection of European nations represented 
there—French, Dutch, Germans, Swedes, Danes, 
Finns, Scotch, Irish, English, “‘and of the last equal 
to all the rest.” 

Much must be said about the Quakers. The prov- 
ince was theirs and they controlled, for nearly one 
hundred years, down to the summer of 1776, its 


[247] 


HISTORIC Cry RCE S 


policy and legislation. “They were a solid lot, slow 
but sure, and in any account of the early city ob- 
viously became the most conspicuous of the diversi- 
fied elements of the people. The other groups were 
for the first seventy years fewer in numbers. Many of 
the settlers, the German and Scotch-Irish particularly, 
went off into the wilderness of the frontier to live by’ 
themselves, leaving the Quakers in undisturbed con- 
trol of politics. 


Whittier, the “Quaker Poet’’ who quitted New Eng- 
land for some three years in the late 1830's to live in 
Philadelphia, and edit an anti-slavery paper, also wrote 
hymns, which have passed into general use, even among 
the Friends, who are not much given to hymn singing. 
Among his most popular hymns is: 


We may not climb the heavenly steeps, 
To bring the Lord Christ down, 

In vain we search the lowest deeps 

For Him no depths can drown. 

But warm, sweet, tender even yet 

A present help is He 

And faith has still its Olivet 

And love its Galilee. 


While in Philadelphia, Whittier usually attended 
services at the Friends’ Meeting House on Twelfth 
Street, near Market, which is still standing in the heart 
of a business section. 


[248] 





CHRIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. (See page 249) 
From an old etching 


Where Washington with members of the First and Second Continental 
Congresses of America worshipped and where Washington later attended 
while President of the United States. 


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@EURTS Te CEUR CEH 


PHILADELPHIA 


In the days of William Penn the established church 
of England was not well represented in the colonies. 
Although English settlements were scattered all along 
the coast, there were few churches of that denomina- 
tion and no resident clergymen at all. “The chaplain at 
the fort in New York traveled about and did the best 
he could, but that, under the circumstances, was very 
little. In 1695, therefore, the Bishop of London sent 
the Rev. Thomas Clayton to Philadelphia to look over 
the field and do what was possible to establish the 
church. 

Mr. Clayton found fifty adherents of the Church of 
England, which number rapidly swelled to seven hun- 
dred. ‘The year of his arrival he and his parishioners 
built a modest little church on a lot near a duck pond, 
the site that is now at the northwest corner of Second 
and Church Streets, above Market, in the heart of the 
wholesale business district. 

It wasn’t business then, but a few residences were in 
its immediate vicinity and farms near by. “This church 
had a seating capacity of five hundred. ‘The founder 
and first rector did not live long to prosecute his labors, 
dying of yellow fever in Baltimore in 1699. ‘The 
Bishop of London sent the Rev. Evan Evans to take 
his place, and under Mr. Evans the church grew and 
prospered. In 1702, it acquired a bell, and in 1708 
built a belfry to hold it. Mr. Evans in that year vis- 
ited England and brought back with him as a gift from 
Queen Anne, a full set of church plate. The flagon 


[249] 


BASSO Re Cer Grin rass 


and chalice carry the inscription, ““Anna Regina, in 
usum Ecclesiae Anglicanae apud Philadelphiam, A.D., 
Li OSs: 

In 1711 the church building was enlarged and ninety 
pounds were realized from the sale of new pews. 

The church suffered its second bereavement, this time 
in a highly dramatic manner, when the earnest and en- 
ergetic rector, Mr. Evans, stricken with apoplexy in the 
midst of his sermon, fell dead in the pulpit. He was 
buried in the church and his body lies there yet. 

When the church was enlarged in 1711, Governor 
Sir William Keith became a vestryman, and established 
a permanent “‘Governor’s pew.’ Some of the city’s 
most eminent citizens became members. 

Until 1719, burials were in the yard adjoining the 
church, but this being small, a substantial burial plot 
was purchased at the corner of Fifth and Arch Streets, 
and it is in the corner of this that lie the bodies of Ben- 
jamin Franklin and Deborah, his wife, an iron fence 
there breaking the brick wall, that the passing people 
may see the grave. 

When the Rev. Archibald Cummings assumed the 
rectorship in 1726, plans were laid to erect a new 
church building, and Dr. John Kearsley was not only 
the architect, but superintended the construction. The 
cornerstone was laid April 27, 1727, but it was not 
completed until 1744, and the tower and spire were 
not finished until ten years later, when the now famous 
chime of eight bells was installed. The bells were 
brought from England by Captain Budden, of the 
ship “‘Myrtilla,’”’ who charged no freight on them; 
hence whenever his ship arrived in port they rang a 
merry welcome to him. During the Revolution these 


[250] 


(6¢2 abpd aag) =‘YIHdTAAVTIHd ‘HOUNHD LSIYHD AO YOIMALNI 











HIS FORTCR CHURCHES 


bells were carried to Allentown and hidden until after 
the British troops left Philadelphia. 

The beautiful and dignified structure having been 
restored in 1882 (alterations having been made in 
1836), is today virtually as it was when in 1754 the 
tower and steeple completed it. “These, by the way, 
are at the rear of the building. The cost of building 
the spire and tower and installing the chimes was 
raised through a lottery, a form of gambling at that 
time, and until more than a century later, a legitimate 
form of business. 

On July 20, 1775 the Continental Congress at- 
tended services in Christ Church in a body. George 
Washington attended whenever he was in the city, and 
regularly while there as President. On July 4, 1776, 
when the State House Bell (now affectionately known 
throughout the land as the Liberty Bell) started a joy- 
ous clanging to announce the adoption of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, the chimes of Christ Church 
quickly joined. | 

In the yard adjoining the church lie the bodies of 
several signers of the Declaration of Independence, in- 
cluding Robert Morris and James Wilson, the latter 
having been brought from the south about 1908 by his 
biographer, Burton Alvah Konkle, of Swarthmore. 


[251] 


ST. GEORGE’S METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL CHURCH 


PHILADELPHIA 


Philadelphia boasts the possession of the oldest 
Methodist Episcopal Church building in the world, in 
St. George’s, Fourth Street below Vine. 

The preaching of George Whitefield, who went 
through the colonies about 1738, winning tremendous 
success and many converts by his ministrations, planted 
the seeds of Methodism in this country, but as he died 
soon after his return to England, no effort was made to 
establish a church here for approximately thirty years. 
In 1768 came Captain Thomas Webb, a British Army 
officer, licensed by the Rev. John Wesley, founder of ~ 
Methodism, to preach. He started with a class of 
seven, and services were held in the loft of a sailmaker’s 
shop near the drawbridge that spanned Dock Creek at 
Front Street. 

For a year the loft was occupied, and then came 
Messrs. Boardman and Pilmore, also sent by Wesley, 
to conduct services in New York and Philadelphia, Mr. 
Pilmore being assigned to the latter city. He began 
preaching from the State House steps, and later ad- 
dressed large audiences in Centre Square, where City 
Hall now stands. 

At that time the members of the German Reformed 
Church of St. George were building a church, the 
cornerstone of which had been laid in 1763, and had 
nearly completed it when in November, 1769, they 
were compelled for financial reasons to give up the en- 
terprise. The building was purchased by Miles Penn- 


[252] 


‘pjzoM ay} Ul BuIpying ysanyy [rdoosidy istpoyiapy isapjoO 
“VIHdHGV TIHd ‘HOYNHD TvdOOsIdy LSIGOHLAW $,aSuYOaAD “LS 








HISORDTCG? CHURCHES 





ington, a member of the new church, who promptly 
conveyed it to the Methodist Society for six hundred 
and fifty pounds, and it was immediately occupied. 
Since that time it has functioned regularly. Fora while 
the congregation gave no name to their church, but as 
it had become known as St. George’s, they at last de- 
cided to let the name stand. 

In 1771 Bishop Francis Asbury, the first Bishop of 
the Methodist Church in America, arrived from Eng- 
land and preached his first sermon on American soil 
in St. George’s. In July 1773 the first annual Metho- 
dist Conference in America was held in the church. It 
consisted of nine ministers, of whom only six took ap- 
pointments, and circuits were organized covering 
Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Mary- 
land and New York City. The next two years the 
annual conferences were also held in St. George’s, but 
owing to war conditions, that of 1776 was held in 
Baltimore. 

The twentieth century was little more than a score 
of years old when construction of a bridge across the 
Delaware River, a project that had been talked of off 

and on for a century, was actually begun. This $39,- 
000,000 structure is nearly two miles long, and when 
the plans were revealed, to the horror of the then pow- 
erful Methodist Church, it was found that Old St. 
George’s was partly on the line, and the entire church 
would have to go. But so great was the historical im- 
portance with which the building was regarded, the 
plans of the mighty engineering project were slightly 
altered, so that the building could be saved. Then it 
was announced that because the noise of passing traffic 


[253 | 


ATS ORTCRCAURCTEs 





would interfere with services, the church would not 
be used for public worship, but would be preserved as 
a shrine of Methodism. 


FIRST |PRESBY TERIAN: CHURCH 


ELIZABE THIN 


This oldest English-speaking church in the State, 
had its first building in 1666—-a commodious and sub- 
stantial edifice in good condition a century later. To 
its pastor, the Rev. James Caldwell, who served as 
chaplain to the New Jersey regiments, General Wash- 
ington paid the rare compliment, ‘““No man in New 
Jersey has contributed so much toward giving direction 
and energy to the thoughts and movements of her citi- 
zenry.” 

A new church, occupying the site of the first, suc- 
ceeded it. “This was set on fire in 1780 by a British 
emissary. 

In the churchyard lies ‘Fighting Parson Caldwell’ 
beside his wife, both shot from ambush while engaged 
in service for “both their country and their God.”’ 

On the walls of its recently added choir room may 
be read the inscriptions on two old tombstones em- 
bedded there, this means being taken to avoid disturb- 
ing the old graves. 


[254] 


THE VPIRS DD REFORMED sGHURCH 


IN PHILADELPHIA, PA. 


The First Reformed Church of Philadelphia may 
rightly be said to date its beginning to the arrival of the 
sloop, “William and Mary,’’ which anchored in the 
Delaware River, at Philadelphia, on September 21, 
1727. ‘The list of passengers, as listed by the govern- 
ment officials, is headed by the name of George Michael 
Weiss, V.D.M.,—1. e., Minister of the Word of God. 
Upon his arrival, he immediately set about the task of 
gathering the scattered members of the Reformed 
Church, whom, with those in his own party, he organ- 
ized into a permanent congregation the same year. The 
charter, secured a few years later, which is still in pos- 
session of the congregation, is a large and detailed 
document, signed by John Penn. 

In the year 1730, Mr. Weiss returned to Holland, 
and Rev. John Philip Boehm entered upon a pastorate 
which continued until 1746. The congregation at this 
time worshiped in an old frame house, near the Dela- 
ware River, alternating on Sundays with the Luther- 
ans. But after the Lutherans built their own Church 
in 1744, the Reformed congregation rented a small 
Church-house, on Arch Street, from one William Allen 
for the extravagant sum of $20 a year. Here the 
Church continued to worship until December 6, 1747, 
when the Church which was erected on Sassafras (Race) 
Street, near Fourth Street, was dedicated and used for 
the first time. This building was very quaint in ap- 
pearance. It was a brick structure, hexagonal in form, 
and with a hipped-roof which sloped from each of the 


[255] 


BLS DOR TCWG URI ELE 


six sides to the cupola. It soon became apparent that 
the old hexagonal building was too small for the con- 
stantly increasing attendance, and, on May 1, 1774, a 
new Church upon the same site was opened and dedi- 
cated. 

This Church building was ninety feet long and 
sixty-five feet wide. Concerning its size, Charles G. 
Finney, who held revival services in it during 1828, 
has this to say in his autobiography: “In Race Street 
there was a large German Church .. . Their house was 
then, I think, the largest house of worship in the city. 
It was always crowded, and it was said that it seated 
3,000 people, when it was packed and the aisles were 
filled.’’ “That the location was a noisy one is evident 
from the fact that they were accustomed to stretch a 
chain across the street in front of the Church during 
the time of service in order to keep vehicles from pass- 
ing; and in 1837 the building was moved farther back 
in the lot in order that the services might be more 
quietly conducted. 

Race Street and its vicinity kept growing busier and 
noisier as a result of the influx of trade and the estab- 
lishment of warehouses and, after another generation 
had passed, the congregation moved to Tenth and Wal- 
lace Streets in 1882. Here the congregation worshiped 
until 1915, when, following the tide of population, it 
moved to its new site at Fiftieth and Locust Streets, 
where in March, 1925, it dedicated a modern building 
at a cost of $200,000. 


[256] 


CONGREGATION MICHVEH ISRAEL 


PHILADELPHIA 


Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography alludes to 
Samuel Keimer, a native of England, by whom he was 
employed in 1723,—a printer and the publisher of the 
Pennsylvania Gazette, who “wore the long beard and 
kept the Jewish Sabbath with greatest strictness.’’ Offi- 
cial documents of 1725 refer to Arnold Bamberger, a 
Philadelphia Hebrew who “‘held lands and trade.” 

Further early records relate that as early as 1747, a 
number of Hebrews who had joined together for the 
purpose of divine worship, met for services in a small 
house in Sterling Alley. At this spot they seem to have 
remained until the outbreak of the Revolution, when 
their membership was increased by some who were 
forced to quit New York City after the occupation by 
the British soldiers. The house in Sterling Alley was 
no longer of sufficient size to accommodate the growing 
- numbers, and so the congregation moved to a house in 
Cherry Street, where a room of the second story was 
fitted up for Hebrew worship. ‘This house became in- 
adequate, and a meeting was convened on March 24, 
1782, by Isaac Moses, to consider means for the pur- 
chase of ground on which a suitable synagogue might 
be erected. “The Synagogue in Cherry Street, the cor- 
nerstone of which was laid Tamuz 6, 5542 (June 19, 
1782), and which had a seating capacity of about two 
hundred, was completed at a cost of 1815 pounds ster- 
ling. 

[257] 


HIS TORT Gy GU R Gib 


The following curious description of this church 
appears in Dr. Mease’s ‘“‘Picture of Philadelphia,’’ Au- 
gust, 1830: 


“A Synagogue, situated on the North Side of Cherry 
Street, above Third Street, is forty feet in front by 
seventy feet in depth, being two stories in height, 
built in Egyptian style of stone from the Falls of 
Schuylkill. The principal entrance is through an ele- 
vated doorway, formed with inclined jambs, support- 
ing a large covered cornice, in which are scultpured the 
globe and wings. ‘The interior embraces two semi- 
circular blocks of seats, displaying to the North and 
South the Ark and the Altar. The dome is sup- 
ported with Egyptian columns copied from the 
temple at Tentyra. . . . In the center of the dome is 
a lantern which gives light to the Altar. 

““The Ark is situated immediately opposite the 
Altar and is neatly decorated with pilasters, supporting 
a covered cornice, enriched with the globe and wings, 
together with a marble tablet, containing the Ten 
Commandments in Hebrew. It is approached by a 
flight of three steps between symmetrical blocks, 
which support two handsome tripods crowned with 
lamps. ‘The galleries are semi-circular, supported by 
columns, which extend to the dome.”’ 


Congregation Michveh Israel included in its numbers 
then, as it has ever since, men who rose high in the com- 
munity, and in serving the State and nation, men of 
true patriotism, whose acts tested their devotion to 
the cause of the young Republic and its institutions. 


[258] 


‘voaWYy Ul yYoInyD ursiayiny] iseaplQ *(6G2 ebvd aa9) “Vd ‘AddVUL ‘HOUNHD NVUAHLNT snisnony 








AUGUSTUS LUTHERAN CHURCH 


TRAPPE; PA: 


The Stone Church (Augustus Church) at Trappe, 
Pa., is celebrated as the oldest Lutheran Church in 
America. 

The first traces of congregational life are found in 
a baptismal record of March 8, 1730, in the handwrit- 
ing of John Casper Stoever, Jr. Henry Melchior Muh- 
lenberg, the first regular pastor, preached his initial ser- 
mon in a barn December 12, 1742. On January 5, 
1743, the congregation decided to erect a church build- 
ing, at which time a log schoolhouse had already been 
erected, which Muhlenberg himself, as the first teacher, 
opened January 10, 1743. Plans for the church build- 
ing were sent to Germany for confirmation. It was to 
be constructed of stone, fifty-four ‘“‘shoes’’ long by 
thirty-nine wide, and to cost two hundred pounds ster- 
ling. 

On May 2, 1743, when the cornerstone was laid, 
Muhlenberg preached in German and made an address 
in English. The service opened with the old German 
hymn, “‘Commend thy Ways and all that grieves thy 
heart to God.”” The congregation worshipped within 
the bare walls of the new church for the first time on 
September 12, and two years later, when it was com- 
pletely paid for, it was dedicated October 6, 1745, at 
which time the dedicatory stone was placed over the 
south entrance, where it still remains. The original 
floor consisted of native stones, laid on the ground. 
It was covered with straw in winter, and there were no 
stoves. In 1814, a wooden floor was laid. 


[259] 


HIS ORTCOR CMU RGCHES 


The gallery on the east side was erected in 1751, to 
receive the pipe organ, purchased in Europe. Henry 
Melchior Muhlenberg married Anna Maria Weiser, 
daughter of Conrad Weiser, Government interpreter 
and Indian agent. 

On September 19, 1777, Washington’s army passed 
the church, one regiment encamping in front of Muh- 
lenberg’s house nearby. On September 26, General 
Armstrong took up his headquarters in the church and 
the schoolhouse. 

After the Battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777, 
the church was used as a hospital, and the next day 
Washington visited the wounded soldiers. “The old 
church still stands in its original condition, a Mecca for 
historians and churchmen alike. 

It was Dr. Muhlenberg’s son, the Rev. John Peter 
Muhlenberg, who, exactly one hundred and fifty years 
ago, preached a most stirring sermon in his church at 
Woodstock, Va. He closed his discourse at that time 
by saying—‘‘There is a time to pray and a time to 
fight; and this is the time to fight.” Throwing back 
his vestments, he stood forth clad in the uniform of a 
Colonel of the Continental Army and called for volun- 
teers. [hat day witnessed the recruiting of between 
700 and 800 men, the nucleus of the Virginia State 
militia. Later he became a Major-General. 

General Muhlenberg while in winter camp at Valley 
Forge several times preached in the old Stone Church 
at Trappe. After the Revolution, he served as a mem- 
ber of the First and Third Congresses; Vice President of 
Pennsylvania under the Supreme Executive Council, 
1787-1788; United States Senator from Pennsylvania; 
Supervisor of Internal Revenue and Collector of the 
Port of Philadelphia. 


[260] 


BAPTIST TTEMPLE 


PHILADELPHIA 


One of the largest and most notable churches in 
Philadelphia was built on a capital of fifty-seven cents. 

Moreover there has grown out of this church several 
other churches, three hospitals and a great University. 
It is not an old church at that; but what it lacks in age 
it makes up in achievement, and the mighty things it 
has done have been due to the genius, devotion and in- 
domitable energy of the superman at its head. 

In 1871, a number of Baptists living in a growing 
neighborhood with no church of their denomination 
near, organized the Grace Baptist Church. “They pro- 
cured a lot on the northeast corner of Mervine and 
Berks Streets, and for months held services there in a 
tent. Presently they began to build a church of stone, 
but funds ran low when the walls were up, so a tem- 
porary wooden roof was placed upon it, and for some 
years this served until the money was obtained to put 

a real roof on and thus complete the building. 
| For ten years the church thrived under three pastors 
in succession. “The congregation, its pulpit vacated by 
death, sought some one to fill it, and selected a hustling 
young man of thirty-eight years who was preaching in 
a small Massachusetts town. His name was Russell H. 
Conwell. 

This young man was a native of Massachusetts. At 
nineteen he donned his country’s uniform and for three 
years fought through the Civil War, winning his way 
to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. ‘Then he studied 
law and was admitted to the bar, beginning to practice 


[261] 


HiST ORIG SCHUR CHES 


in his native State. He had been a newspaper corre- 
spondent, traveler and writer, and had toured the world 
with Bayard Taylor. 

One day Russell Conwell was called upon to go to 
a little country town and sell a tiny church because the 
members could not pay $300 that was due upon it. He 
went. ‘The people stood about in tears, helpless to save 
their cherished house of worship. The great heart of 
the lawyer was touched. He announced that services 
would be held every Sunday, and paid the $300 out of 
his own pocket. 

Conwell, the lawyer, went into the pulpit himself 
and conducted services until an ordained minister could 
be found to take it. He studied for the ministry, and 
was ordained at Lexington, Mass., in 1879. 

This was the man that Grace Baptist Church in- 
duced to come to Philadelphia. From the first Sunday, 
when he electrified the congregation with his masterly 
preaching, his fame grew. Ina few Sundays it became 
necessary to issue tickets of admission to limit the size 
of the congregation to the capacity of the church. The 
Sunday school grew, too, and soon overflowed. ‘The 
name of Conwell was soon as well known in Philadel- 
phia as that of the Mayor. 

One Sunday afternoon he came to a little girl who 
was fruitlessly seeking a seat in the crowded Sunday 
school. He lifted her to the window sill, saying: 
‘Never mind, little one, some day we will have a Sun- 
day school big enough for all children who want to 
come. Just as soon as we can raise the money.’ 

The child pondered. She began to save her pennies. 
In a few months she was stricken with fatal illness, and 
asked to see Mr. Conwell. He went to her bedside and 


[262] 


His GORIC CHURCHES 


she asked for her little bank, which she handed to the 
pastor, saying that she had saved this money to build 
a Sunday school, and asked him to take it. He did so, 
and the little one died happy in the promise that her 
savings would be so used. “The bank, when opened 
yielded fifty-seven cents. 

There was a vacant lot on the southeast corner of 
Broad and Berks Streets that Mr. Conwell had long 
coveted as the site for the church of his dreams. He 
had an inspiration. Putting the child’s money in his 
pocket he sought the owner and asked the price, stating 
his object. “The owner held it at $25,000. The 
clergyman said he would buy it if the owner would 
take part payment and let the rest stand on mortgage. 

“How much do you plan to pay?” asked the owner. 

“T have only fifty-seven cents,’’ replied the pastor, 
simply. 

Long and loud laughed the other at such a preposter- 
ous idea. Mr. Conwell waited until he quieted down, 
and then, simply, quietly, he told the story of the fifty- 
seven cents. As he talked the owner sobered. When he 
finished there was a moisture in the owner's eyes. 

“Mr. Conwell,’ he said, ‘“‘you shall have that lot, 
not for $25,000, but for $20,000. I will take the fifty- 
seven cents as first payment and take a mortgage for 
the rest.”’ 

The papers were drawn up, a receipt given for the 
money and a mortgage drawn for $19,999.43. Then 
the man who had owned the land handed back the 
fifty-seven cents, saying, “Mr. Conwell, if I were you 
I would never part with that money.” And that same 
fifty-seven cents remains to this day locked in the 
church safe, a possession it holds sacred. 


[263] 


HiSsVGORTOP GWU Cr his 


The church was built of white stone, fireproof, with 
heating plant outside. Instead of pews, it is equipped 
with cushioned opera chairs, for this unusual minister 
expressed the opinion that people would be more likely 
to be religious if they were comfortable. The church 
cost $250,000. 7 

““Where,’’ cried the congregation, aghast, “‘are we 
going to find the money to pay for it?”’ 

“T will lecture,’ replied Conwell, ‘“‘and thus raise the 
money myself.’ 

“‘But suppose you should die?”’ 

“Insure my life for enough to cover it.”’ 

And this was done. The church grew in member- 
ship to thousands. ‘The indefatigable pastor lectured 
on many subjects. ‘The favorite was “Acres of Dia- 
monds,’’ which he has delivered throughout the world 
a total of 6,150 times. He wrote books which brought 
substantial revenues. Money rolled in to him, and 
yet he never had any. No appeal for help was ever 
made to him in vain. His hand was always in his 
pocket. It is related that his wife on several occa- 
sions went to the trustees to get some of his salary in 
advance to do the family marketing. To assure him of 
a home free from landlords, the congregation bought 
and presented him with a house, 2020 North Broad 
Street. . 

One day two young men went to him and stated 
their desire to study for the ministry, and asked how 
they could get the preliminary education necessary. 
“Make up a class of ten and come to me Friday night,”’ 
he told them, ‘‘and I will teach you myself.”” They 
came, but instead of ten there were forty. He put them 
off for a week to study the situation. The incident 


[264] 


HISTORIC CHURCHES 


convinced him that there were many poor young men 
who desired a college education, but could not obtain 
it for financial reasons. He rented a room, engaged a 
teacher and the Temple School started. “The room be- 
came a house; the house became two houses; the two 
houses became a large building adjoining the church 
and Temple School became Temple College. It grew 
to cover the whole square and became Temple Univer- 
sity. And still other buildings in other parts of the 
city were needed to house its Medical, Dental and 
Music departments. 

The Baptist Temple functioned, but not as a church. 
It would not be a church until it was dedicated, and it 
would not be dedicated until it was fully paid for. It 
was occupied March 1, 1891, and at last, free of all 
debt, it was formally dedicated December 1, 1907. 

Dr. Conwell, once the needs of the temple and the 
university were provided for, devoted all his remaining 
income to paying for the tuition of poor boys through 
the college, and hundreds have him to thank for the 
education they have acquired. Yet so quietly has the 
benefaction been made that few of them know to 
whom they are indebted. 

Three splendid hospitals, the Samaritan, the Gar- 
rettson, and the Great Heart were founded by him be- 
cause they were needed in their neighborhoods. He has 
financed struggling young churches until they were 
able to travel alone. In 1924, he received the Edward 
Bok award of $10,000 for the Philadelphian who had 
done the most for the city in that year. 

Had he kept what he earned, or even half of it, he 
would be today a millionaire several times over, but he 


[265] 


HIS TORTOCOMURC RES 


has nothing but his salary and retains only enough of 
that for his simple wants. 

So this great church, university and associated enter- 
prises thrive and grow in importance and power which 
are always exerted for the good of mankind. And it 
was all done on a capital of fifty-seven cents. 

And the church still has the fifty-seven cents. 

The Rev. Dr. Russell H. Conwell died Sunday, 
December 6, 1925, at his home on North Broad Street, 
Philadelphia, at the age of 82 years. 





QUAKER MEETING HOUSE 


FLUSHING, L. I. 


One of the quaintest landmarks of Long Island is a 
Friend’s Meeting House, the original of which was 
erected in 1694 with funds obtained two years earlier, 
when the Friends were the only organized religious de- 
nomination on the island. It had no floor and no heat. 

The present edifice was erected in 1719 and has had 
few alterations. In this plain meeting house in 1719 
was held the first public meeting for the abolition of 
slavery. At the annual meeting of 1718, William 
Burling is said to have delivered an address considered 
the first anti-slavery address published in this country. 

As early as 1672, we are told, George Fox traveled 
in Long Island, which adds weight to the tradition that 
Flushing had a Meeting House, even as early as 1670. 
The first actual protest against slavery, however, was 
made by the Germans who settled Germantown, Phila- 
delphia, in 1683. The protest was framed at a meet- 
ing in the home of Thomas Kunders (still standing), 
and addressed to the Friends’ Meeting of Philadelphia. 


[266] 





(See page 267) 


MORAVIAN CHURCH, BETHLEHEM, PA. 





MORAVIAN CHURCH 


BETHLEHEM, PA. 


For a motto they took the words “In commune 
oramus, in commune laboramus, in commune pati- 
mur, in commune gaudeamus,”’ (together we pray, 
labor, suffer and rejoice). 


—‘‘History of Moravian Church,” Hutton. 


This church was born of the intense missionary zeal 
of the Moravians, organized in 1722, under the patron- 
age of Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760). ‘Their head- 
quarters were in the Moravian city, Herrnhut (“‘Lord’s 
Watch’) where, driven by persecution, they had set- 
tledin 1722. As early as 1740, the American Province 
of the Unitas Fratrum (not to be confused with the 
“United Brethren’) purchased a large tract of land in 
eastern Pennsylvania, naming it Bethlehem and intend- 
ing it to be the central point for missions among the 
Mohican and Delaware Indians. Previous to this they 
had formed settlements in Georgia and along the Sa- 
vannah River under the direction of Governor Ogle- 
thorpe. 

In 1742, Count Zinzendorf himself visited the new 
mission center, dedicating the small Chapel House, 
erected the year before, and completing the organiza- 
tion. This is now recognized as the Mother Congre- 
gation of the Moravian Church in America. The 
Chapel House, the Bishop’s House, and the residence of 
the Moravian Sisterhood were on the original tract of 
land purchased in 1740. Numerous Indian Missions 
sprang up. ‘The first convert buried in the flat-stoned 
graveyard was an Indian. “Today it is said that fifty- 


[267] 


HLS O RUC eer GOES 


eight Indians lie buried there, representing the several 
tribes, which Moravian ministrations served. 

The chapel dedicated in 1742, to which a large room 
was annexed in 1751, served for many years. In 1805 
the present church was dedicated. 

The hospital under the care of the Moravian Sister- 
hood is credited with having had General Lafayette as 
one of its patients during the Revolution. Count 
Pulaski, assigned at that time to protect it against the 
British and Indians, carried away with him the ban- 
ner celebrated by Longfellow in his ““Hymn of the 
Moravian Nuns.” 

This banner was of silk, embroidered by the Sisters, 
and Pulaski carried it streaming from an upright lance 
at the head of his legions, until he fell at Savannah, 
Georgia, in October, 1779. It was preserved by his 
comrades and carried in the procession that welcomed 
Lafayette upon his visit to this country in 1824. In 
1844, it was presented to the Maryland Historical So- 
ciety, in whose posession it still remains. 

“Zinzendorf’s Hymn,” “Jesu geh voran, auf der 
Lebenshahn,”’ said to be the first hymn taught children 
in every German household, well expresses his strong 
faith and that of his humble followers: 

Jesus, still lead on 
Till our rest be won, 
And although the way be cheerless, 
We will follow calm and fearless, 
Guide us by Thy hand, 
To our Fatherland. 

At Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is the Home- 
Moravian Church, one of North Carolina’s three 
Eighteenth Century Churches yet in existence. It was 
erected in 1788. 


[268] 


SHEARETH ISRAEL (REMNANT OF 
ISRAEL) 


NEW YORK CITY 


About 1650, Spanish and Portuguese Hebrews 
probably made their first settlement in New Amster- 
dam. There are records of a settlement of London 
Hebrews at Savannah, Ga., in 1733, and of Hebrew 
Congregations at Charleston, S. C., in 1750 and Mon- 
treal in 1768. A building consecrated in 1763 by the 
Yeshnath Israel Congregation of Newport, R. I., is in 
one of the country’s historic spots and is celebrated 
by one of Longfellow’s most touching poems. ‘This 
latter congregation apparently resulted from a removal 
of part of the New Amsterdam settlement, about 1654 
to Newport, for greater freedom of religious worship. 
Embury says that the Jewish Synagogue of 1775 at 
Newport is the oldest Jewish place of worship existing 
in the country. 

Sheareth Israel, formed in 1680 by the descendants 
of the earlier settlement in New Amsterdam, was prob- 
ably the oldest regular Hebrew congregation in the 
United States. The first records of this congregation, 
written in Spanish and in English, dated 1729, refer to 
records of 1706, at which time services were held in a 
small frame synagogue on Mill Street. In 1729 a neat 
stone building was erected on the site, in which the con- 
gregation worshipped for nearly a century. In 1838 
it moved to ‘‘a spacious and elegant synagogue’ in 
Crosby Street. The Rev. G. Sexias, who was active in 
the organization of Mickveh Israel, Philadelphia, 


[269] 


HISTORTC P CHURCHES 


served as the second Rabbi from 1787 to 1815, and was 
also a trustee of Columbia College (now University). 


Temple Emanu-El, Forty-third Street and Fifth 
Avenue, a modern building, erected at a cost of 
$700,000, has a seating capacity of 2,000, and its lec- 
ture room will accommodate 1200. It has eight large 
school rooms in the basement, and boasts a male mem- 
bership of more than four hundred of the most prom- 
inent Hebrews in New York City. 





FIRST DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH 


FLATBUSH, L. I. 


The Long Island settlers, in attendance at the Dutch 
“Church-in-the-Fort”’ in early New York City, were 
dependent upon the crudest methods for crossing the 
East River, their ferry consisting merely of a small flat 
boat rowed by some farmer, who was summoned by a 
horn which hung conveniently on a neighboring tree 
for the purpose. “The length of the passage depended 
upon the weather and tide, and the ancient Long 
Islanders decided it was time they should make their 
church-going less hazardous. In 1654 was organized, 
accordingly, the First Dutch Reformed Church of 
Flatbush, Long Island. ‘The cost of the building was 
$1,800, to which fund Governor Peter Stuyvesant, the 
last Dutch Director General of the New Netherlands, 
contributed liberally. 


[270] 


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FIRST HUGUENOT CHURCH 


NEW YORK CITY 


The Huguenots were among our country’s earliest 
settlers. As early as 1564 they landed near Seloy, an 
Indian village on or near the site of St. Augustine, later 
moving on to the St. John’s River. Early in the seven- 
teenth century the West India Company sent out its 
first body of emigrants, as has been noted, to colonize 
Manhattan. Many of them were French Huguenot 
immigrants. By 1628 they had laid the foundations 
of a church under the leadership of the Rev. Jonas 
Michaelis, who conducted services in their own lan- 
guage, the Huguenot services being very similar to the 
Dutch Reformed. 

In 1687-1688 a fourth of the population of New 
York were Huguenots, due to the immigration of 
French driven out by Louis XIV through his Revoca- 
tion of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Accordingly the 
First Huguenot Church of New York was organized, 
called Eglise des Refugees Francais a la Nouvelle York. 
It was built in 1688 in the street then known as Petty 
Coat Lane. Until 1704, this church was the chief 
Huguenot center of worship, not only for the French in 
the city, but from distances as far out as what is now 
Long Island and New Rochelle. Many devoted wor- 
shippers set out on Saturday evening and traveled all 
night to be at church in time. 

In 1704 a second and larger church was erected, the 
Huguenots by that time being recognized as a strong 
and wealthy congregation, second only to the Dutch 
Reformed. 


[271] 


HISTORITCRCH UR CIES 


In 1804 the French Church conformed to the Epis- 
copal régime of worship, becoming the French Chapel 
of Saint Esprit, an interesting relic of the union at that 
time being the adaptation of the English Book of Com- 
mon Prayer to the use of the Huguenot worshippers. 
The French Church was generously assisted by Trin- 
ity in its early organization and development. 


ST. MICHAEL EVANGELICAL 
LUTHERAN 


PHILADELPHIA 


The mother church of all Lutheran churches in Phil- 
adelphia was founded April 5, 1743, by the Rev. Henry 
Melchior Muhlenberg, of Trappe, assisted by the Swe- 
dish pastor of Gloria Dei. 

Zion Church was fostered by St. Michael and served 
by its pastors. In 1806, the English section of St. 
Michael’s built St. John’s. 


[272] 




















ST. MICHAEL EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 





FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 


NEWARK, N. J. 


“They lived in the shadow of a fort-like structure 
which was at once the Hall of Justice and Records and 
the original House of God on the Soil.’’—Bacon. 


A church much venerated by New Jerseyites is the 
First Presbyterian at Newark, born of the necessity for 
the Presbyterian training of the youth of the pioneer 
settlers in the vicinity of Newark. For many years it 
was ministered to by the Rev. Abraham Pierson, a 
Scotch Presbyterian Minister, whom they had brought 
with them for this purpose. , 

The original church was a crude building, planned 
September 10, 1663, and ready for occupancy eighteen 
months later. “Two additions built on each corner, 
called “‘flankers’’ served as a palisade to conceal and 
protect the guards who patrolled during the service and 
warned of Indian attack. During King Philip’s War 
the church was used as a fort. 

This Presbyterian Meeting House, used also as the 
town house, was the scene of all the important relig- 
ious, civil and military transactions of some half cen- 
tury. In 1716 a plain and substantial stone church 
was dedicated, which in 1753 was chartered by King 
George III. ‘This was desecrated by the British dur- 
ing the Revolution, just after it had been repaired, but 
after the war it was restored with little change. 

In front of the pulpit was the seat for the precentor. 
To its right the pew for the minister’s family and to 
its left one for representatives of the royal family of 
England. The congregation sat on the customary 


[273] . 


HISTORIC WGHUR CiEsS 


plain benches. From the belfry the bell rope hung 
down into the middle aisle. 

In 1787 the present church was erected, preserving 
in the main the old arrangement and calling the con- 
gregation to worship with the original bell, purchased 
twenty-five years after the erection of the building of 
1716. The old church takes pride in a large Venetian 
window in the rear wall which is the admiration of all 
who see it. 

On the banks of the Passaic, just outside of Newark, 
stands the old Dutch Reformed Church of Belleville, 
another of Jersey’s landmarks. In its possession until 
recently was a Dutch Bible printed in Holland in 1768, 
which is now among the relics of the Belleville Free 
Library. 





DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH 


HERKIMER, NEW YORK 


In her intense zeal to Christianize the Indians in the 
new land, Queen Anne caused the erection of several 
churches in the Mohawk country. Of these there are 
now only three remaining, and only one of these is still 
used for divine worship—the one that is a proud pos- 
session of Herkimer. 

It is of stone. ‘The curious drum-shaped pulpit, 
quaintly carved, is perched on a pedestal and reached 
by a steep, winding staircase. It is at an unusual height, 
and from it the preacher looks down upon his congre- 
gation, who are compelled to sit with heads bent back 
to seehim. ‘This pulpit, says Wallington, is one of the 
greatest curiosities to be found in ecclesiastical architec- 
ture in America. 


[274] 


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FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE 


PHILADELPHIA 


The first Friends’ meeting was held in 1681 at 
Shackamaxon (now the Kensington district of Phila- 
delphia) in a house opposite Penn’s famous Treaty 
Elm. “The meetings were first held in private houses. 
After these meetings men turned out to help new neigh- 
bors erect their small houses. Heavy work, such as 
wood cutting, was divided among many hands and a 
jovial rustic meal sweetened the toil. 


In 1693, a site was chosen for the Center Square 
Meeting House, the present location of City Hall. This 
was succeeded in 1695 by a larger house at Second and 
High (now Market) Streets, erected on ground given 
to George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends. 
There the Government of Pennsylvania and Council 
met until the building was destroyed in 1755 and re- 
placed by a third which served until 1804, when the 
present brick house at Fourth and Arch Streets was 
erected on a site that had been donated by William 
Penn for that purpose. This historic Meeting House 
is the largest of all the Friends’ Houses of worship in 
Philadelphia, and is said to be the largest in the world. 
It is 180 feet long. It is not only the largest, but also 
the oldest of these Houses now standing within the cor- 
porate limits of Philadelphia. 

Like all Friends’ Meeting Houses, it is severely plain, 
yet restful in its atmosphere of peace. There are the 
wooden benches for the worshippers and pegs upon 


[275] 


HIST ORTCOUGH UR CEES 


which hats may be hung; and to it on the days of 
Meeting go throngs who are still of the faith of Fox 
and Penn, many to this day appearing in garments 
plain of cut and drab of color. 


PENNYPACK CHURCH 


PENNYPACK, PA. 


The Pennypack Baptist Church, founded in 1688 
by twelve men and women settlers from Ireland and 
Wales, is the oldest church of this denomination in 
Pennsylvania and the third oldest in the country. Its 
pastor for a time served the Presbyterian congregation 
of “Old Barbados’ previous to 1698. In 1707 a 
small place of worship was erected near the site of the 
present edifice. “Two additional buildings were erected 
in 1770 and 1805, the latter being the one which stands 
today. ‘This historic church was in its early days the 
center of denominational activity not only in Pennsyl- 
vania but throughout New York and New Jersey, Del- 
aware and even as far south as Maryland. 


[276] 








ST. PETER’S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. (See page 277) 
Exterior and Interior Views. 





Siivere TERS 


PHILADELPHIA 


St. Peter's, Philadelphia, the second Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in the city and one of the few, the in- 
terior of which has not been modernized, was erected 
on ground given by Thomas and Richard Penn, the 
proprietaries of Pennsylvania and loyal churchmen, for 
a chapel for Christ Church parishioners living in the 
southern part of the city. ‘The first stone was laid 
by the assistant minister of Christ Church, the Rev. 
William Sturgeon, in September, 1758. It was to be 
“upon equal footing with Christ Church and under the 
same government withal,”’ and “‘the first and best pew 
was to be set apart for the accommodation of the Hon- 
orable Proprietary’s family and their governors for the 
time being.”’ Benjamin Franklin, it is said, went with 
other worshippers from the mother church. 

In 1842, the present tower and spire were added, also 
the large gilt cross which, it is said, was at that time the 
only cross on an American Episcopal Church. The 
church building stands today as one of the very few 
colonial churches of our country that have undergone 
no changes. It has lost none of the stern simplicity of 
its old colonial lines, within or without. 

It was in this church that the Rev. William White, 
chaplain of the Second Continental Congress, and the 
first Bishop of English consecration in the United 
States, preached his first sermon in his new position. 

One winter during the Revolution, whenever he was 
in the city, Washington attended St. Peter's. In the 
churchyard lie buried many of the city’s prominent 


[277] 


HIS TORTC MGA RCH Eis 


early residents, among them the Rev. Jacob Duché, 
Rector of both Christ Church and St. Peter’s, whose 
prayer opened the First Continental Congress; Com- 
modore Stephen Decatur, who proposed that inspiring 
American toast, ““Our Country; may she always be 
right, but right or wrong, Our Country.” A monu- 
ment rises above him, and somewhere in the yard lies 
the body of Lewis Hallam, the younger, whose father 
founded the drama in America, and who, as his suc- 
cessor, established it firmly. 


[278] 


PIRS Ie PRESB YERERIAN @EWKGH 


PHILADELPHIA 


The First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia owes 
its origin to the visit of the Rev. Francis Makemie to 
the city in 1692, a pastor sent to America in 1684 by 
the United Brethren of Presbyterians and Congrega- 
tionalists of London. Previous to this visit to Phila- 
delphia, he had been organizing churches in Maryland 
and Virginia, having organized the church at Rehobeth, 
Md., in 1683. His first congregation assembled in 
Barbados store, a small building belonging to a trad- 
ing company, chartered by William Penn and called 
“Society of Free Traders’ or “Barbados Company.” 
The congregation was composed of Protestant ‘‘dis- 
senters,’ including English, Welsh, Calvinists and 
French Huguenots. For a time (around 1695) a 
group of Baptists worshipped with them, the Rev. 
John Watts, a Baptist minister from Pennypack, serv- 
ing them every other Sunday. 

In 1698, the congregation formally organized and 
called its first pastor, Jedediah Andrews, from Boston. 
He was an Independent or Congregationalist, who had 
been ministering to a congregation largely composed of 
immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. So harmon- 
iously and effectively did these two pastors work for 
the upbuilding of their churches, that they have been 
called the ‘‘Fathers of Presbyterianism in America.”’ 

In 1704, the congregation erected its own building 
on Market Street, above Second, affectionately called 
“Old Buttonwood,” which was enlarged in 1729 and 
rebuilt in 1794 in ‘‘more spacious and elegant style, and 


[279] 


HISSORTOROCHUR CHES 


served as their house of worship until 1822, when the 
congregation moved to its present edifice’ at Seventh 
and Locust Streets. 

Among the noted worshippers and pewholders of 
the old Presbyterian Church was Benjamin Franklin, 
also ‘‘an attendant and vestryman of Christ Church 
for five years.”’ 


THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH 


PHILADELPHIA 


The Second Presbyterian Church. of Philadelphia, 
organized in 1743, had as its first pastor the Rev. Gil- 
bert Tennent, eldest son of the famous Rev. William 
Tennent of New Jersey. Its organization is attributed 
to the preaching of the Rev. George Whitefield in Phila- 
delphia with its attendent spiritual awakening. 


In the Presbyterian Church in Germantown, which 


obtained its site in 1732, Count Zinzendorf is said to 
have preached his first and last sermons in America. 


[280] 


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ZIONFEVANGERICAL LUTHERAN 


PHILADELPHIA 


When built, and for many years afterward, Zion 
Lutheran was the largest church building in America, 
the outgrowth of St. Michael’s, the first Lutheran 
Church.in Philadelphia. he cornerstone had been laid 
by the Rev. H. M. Muhlenberg some quarter of a cen- 
tury before. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church was 
dedicated on June 25, 1769, with fitting ceremony. In 
1770, the Rev. George Whitefield preached in the 
church. 

On November 27, 1777, pews were torn out and the 
church was used as a British hospital, with nothing but 
bare walls remaining. It was well called ‘‘Desolate 
Zion.’ On October 10, 1790, the great organ, built 
by a self-taught Moravian artisan, was used for the 
first time. It was the largest and grandest organ in 
America, having over two thousand pipes and three 
banks of keys, and costing $10,000. 

On March 1, 1791, among distinguished guests 
gathered there in a commemorative service to Benjamin 
Franklin, were President and Lady Washington, Vice 
President and Mrs. Adams, and members of the Senate 
and House of Representatives. 

This church, destroyed by fire in 1794, was replaced 
by a new church dedicated on November 27, 1796. 

At the funeral services for General Washington (De- 
cember 26, 1799) held in this church, Major General 
Henry Lee, the orator of the day and father of General 
Robert E. Lee, referred to Washington as “‘First in 


[281] 


HUST OR Gee Ort Chee eiions 


War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of his 
Countrymen.”’ On October 31, 1817, the third cen- 
tennial of the Reformation was celebrated in Old Zion, 
participated in by all the clergy of the city. 

Final services were held in Old Zion November 1, 
1868, and a new church dedicated September 1, 1870. 


[282] 

















FIRST (Tabor) REFORMED CHURCH OF 
LEBANON, PA. (See page 284) 

















DONEGAL REFORMED CHURCH, MILTON GROVE, LANCASTER COUNTY, PA. 
(See page 284) 








ZION REFORMED CHURCH 


ALLENTOWN, PA. 


Zion Reformed Church at Allentown, Pa., remains 
a monument to the faith of the early settlers of that 
vicinity, who were, in the main immigrants from 
Switzerland and the Palatinate, and loyal supporters 
of the Reformed faith. In 1762, the year of the found- 
ing of the town, a log Meeting House was erected, one 
of the first buildings, which served also as a school- 
house for many years. In 1770, by permission of 
Governor Penn, plans for a new church were made 
and in 1772, the cornerstone of a new stone church to 
cost some $1,500, was laid near the site of the old log 
church. “This second church was succeeded in 1838 by 
the present building, completed in 1840. 

Zion Reformed Church holds a place of peculiar his- 
toric interest, because of its protection of the Liberty 
Bell amidst the misfortunes of Revolutionary War 
times. Fearing that the bell would be taken from In- 
dependence Hall by the British, then occupying Phila- 
delphia, to be made into cannon, some of the patriots 
loaded it on a wagon and started with it to the moun- 
tainous districts. When they reached Bethlehem, 
where the State Hospital for the Continental Army 
was located, the wagon broke down. With difficulty 
the bell was conveyed to Allentown, where it remained 
hidden under the floor of the church until it could be 
safely returned to Independence Hall. 


[283] 


HIS TOR TGS GC TUR Orr 


Tabor Church (First Reformed), Lebanon, Pa., 
built in 1792, though remodeled and added to, still re- 
tains its original walls. 


Donegal Reformed Church, Milton Grove, Lancas- 
ter Co., Pa., was built in 1744. 


[284] 


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ST. DAVID’S 


RADNOR, PA. 


What an image of peace and rest 
Is this little Church among its graves! 


—“Old St. David’s at Radnor,’ Longfellow. 


St. David’s Church, some sixteen miles out from 
Philadelphia, stands a historic monument to Welsh 
Episcopalians of 1700. Parish records in possession of 
the church refer to an original building, on the site of 
the present church, built of logs and used also as a gar- 
rison against the Indians. 

On May 9, 1715, the cornerstone of the present St. 
David's was laid. It stood, according to plan, “East 
and West with main door south and a sharp pitch to 
the roof to shed water, snow and summer rain.”’ An 
unusual feature of its construction was the choir loft, 
reached only by a stairway from the outside of the 
church. 

The interior was severely plain, having no heat nor 
seats and for forty years only the ground fora floor. In 
1765, scanty equipment and floor covering were added. 
A few years later pews were put in and rented, to in- 
crease the church income. “Though scantily furnished, 
St. David's had a few cherished possessions, thus re- 
ferred to in its records of a robbery of the church in 
1740: “‘One large folio Bible; one quarto Bible; one 
black gown made of Spanish cloth; one chalice; two 
plates, and one basin, being stamped Radnor Church,” 
—a gift to the parish from Queen Anne. 

At the outbreak of the Revolution, St. David's 
sturdy and patriotic congregation resorted to physical 


[285] 


HIS TORTCOSM@GH WRG S 


force to prevent the rector, who was a staunch loyalist, 
from using the liturgical references to the King and the 
Royal family. His resignation judiciously followed. 
The church became a rendezvous for Continental sol- 
diers. “Ihe lead of the windows was contributed for 
bullets. British soldiers lie buried in the graveyard. 

In 1809, the remains of General “‘Mad’’ Anthony 
Wayne, whose family was closely connected with the 
church, were buried with appropriate ceremony at St. 
David’s. His monument reads: “Born in neighbor- 
hood, worshipped in church, was member of vestry, 
body brought from Presque Isle to rest here!”’ 

At that time the church was remodeled and has re- 
mained since then much as it is now. 


[286] 








Pe 








BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG, VA. (See page 287) 





ST. DAVID’S CHURCH, RADNOR, PA. 





BRUTON PARISH CHURCH 


WILLIAMSBURG, VA. 


Bruton Parish Church at Williamsburg, Va., was 
dedicated in 1684, nine years before the chartering of 
William and Mary College, the oldest institution of 
learning in our country, next to Harvard. The church 
was named in honor of the Ludwells, who were born 
in Bruton, in the County of Somerset, England, as one 
reads on the tomb of Sir Thomas Ludwell (died 1678) 
at the entrance of the north transept door. 

The Rev. James Blair, who represented the Bishop 
of England as head of the church in the colony, served 
as its pastor thirty-two years. He also served William 
and Mary College as President about fifty years. To 
the students of the college, sons of Virginia planters, 
Indian youths and young ministers, the gallery was as- 
signed. 

Though authentic records are destroyed, it is prob- 
able that there was an earlier church at Middle Planta- 
tion, probably dating back to 1665. It was referred 
to as ‘‘already old’ in 1674, when it was ordered that 
a new church be built of brick. 

With the removal of the seat of State Government 
from Jamestown to Williamsburg, some seven miles 
distant, in 1669, Bruton Parish Church became the 
Court Church of Colonial Virginia, counting among 
its worshippers, the Governor and his staff, members 
of the House of Burgesses, and celebrated State visitors. 
The Council of State and members of the House of 
Burgesses, had officially assigned pews. With the en- 
larged congregation, a new edifice was deemed neces- 


[287] 


HISTORIC VCHURGCHES 


sary and was erected accordingly in 1710-1715. Since 
then services have been regularly held in it. Among 
Old Bruton’s cherished furnishings are the baptismal 
font and silver communion service of the old James- 
town Church. 

Old Bruton Church was restored in 1905 at a cost 
of $25,000 and appears today much as it was in 
Colonial times, with pews arranged in colonial style 
and the Governor’s pew covered with its canopy. It 
has been called the most interesting and historical Epis- 
copal Church in the United States. 


Blanford Church, Blanford, Va., now only the 
ruins of a brick church finished in 1736, was named 
in honor of Theodoric Bland, an Englishman, who 
went to Virginia in 1654 as a merchant from Spain. 
It was constructed by order of the church wardens of 
Bristol Parish and around it the town of Blanford 
was built. “The Blanford family enjoyed distinction 
and influence in England and America for some six 
hundred years. John Randolph, of Roanoke, was one 
’ of its illustrious members. 





INDEPENDENT PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH 


SAVANNAH, GA. 


This church of white marble, replacing in exact fac- 
simile of design an older wooden church of 1800, is one 
of the most famous and beautiful of southern churches. 


[288 ] 














’ oe $ 
oe 














Lo ae ae RE 


CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VA. (See page 289) 
To whose erection, George Washington gave generous assistance, 








CHRIST CHURCH 


ALEXANDRIA, VA. 


One of America’s most historic landmarks is Christ 
Church at Alexandria, to whose erection and growth 
George Washington gave generous assistance. The 
family pew, for which he paid the highest price ($100) 
on the day of the completion of the church, February 
27, 1773, still stands marked with his name. At that 
time he also presented a handsome brass chandelier with 
crystal pendants, which likewise still may be seen in 
the church sacred to his memory. 

Church records say that as early as 1765, the parish 
of Fairfax was created and that for five years the Father 
of His Country served as an active vestryman. Among 
his other duties while in this office was the supervision 
of the collection of the tax of 31,000 pounds of choice 
Oronoko tobacco, sold to provide funds for the build- 
ing of the church. The contract, for $3,000, for the 
erection of the church was signed in 1767. 

Its style is simple Colonial and the appearance hand- 
some. Its architect was from the family of Sir Chris- 
topher Wren. 

Records tell of some interesting methods of Church 
financing: The poor were cared for by fines imposed 
for killing deer out of season, or hunting on the Sab- 
bath. The clergyman’s salary was paid in tobacco. 
His rectory was luxurious beyond all Colonial church 
customs, with glebe of some five hundred acres and “‘a 
dairy, meat-house, barn, stable and corn-house.”’ 

There is also the account of the baptism and con- 
firmation of Robert E. Lee in Christ Church. When 


[289] 


HIS VORELC CHORES 


the Federal Troops occupied Alexandria, the church 
was held by military authorities. Ina large mound in 
the churchyard lie buried thirty-four Confederate sol- 
diers who died in Alexandria hospitals. 





Sie bWKE 


SMITHFIELD, VA. 


At Smithfield, about ten miles from Fortress Mon- 
roe, is St. Luke’s, one of the oldest churches of the 
South. Erected in 1632, it was used for some two 
hundred years with little change. Restored in 1887, 
through the generosity of not only native Virginians, 
but patriotic parishioners from twenty-one other 
States, St. Luke’s stands today preeminent among ex- 
amples of early southern Colonial church architecture. 

Distinctive features of this interesting church are its 
twelve memorial windows, among which are those in 
memory of George Washington, General Robert E. 
Lee, Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain John Smith, John 
Rolfe and the Rev. Dr. Blair, founder of William and 
Mary College, the Alma Mater of President Jefferson 
and President Monroe. In the building are incorpo- 
rated bricks taken from the ruined walls of the church 
at Jamestown. 


St. John’s, Hampton, Va., used as a barracks in 
1812, has “‘survived three wars, twice in ruins, twice 
it has risen again.” 


The Hebron Lutheran Church in Madison County, 
Virginia, was built in 1740. 


[290] 


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ST. MICHAEL’S 


CHARLESTON, &. C. 


St. Michael’s Protestant Episcopal Church at 
Charleston, S. C., distinguished among church build- 
ings as a notable specimen of early British church archi- 
tecture, was opened for worship February 1, 1761. 
The interior is rich and imposing with its lofty carved 
pulpit, high colonial pews and gallery supported by 
twelve Ionic pillars. “The graceful, imposing tower, 
about one hundred sixty-eight feet high, with spire of 
ornamental chambers, its most beautiful feature, is one 
of the city’s ornaments. It is said that during the Rev- 
olutionary War, when the tower was used as a beacon 
light, 1t was painted black by General Hood to prevent 
the enemy from using it as a guide to the harbor. In 
the Civil War the steeple was used as a lookout station. 
Its chimes of eight bells were imported from England 
and cost five hundred eighty-one pounds, fourteen 
shillings, four pence. “They were taken from the city 
when it was captured by the British in the Revolution 
and sent to London, where they were bought by a mer- 
chant of that city and restored to St. Michael’s. 

Later in the War between the States, at the sugges- 
tion of General Beauregard, the bells were sent to 
Columbia to be cast into cannon, but were pronounced 
unfit. [They were injured by fire when Charleston was 
besieged, and were recast in 1866. ‘These ‘‘charmed”’ 
bells, after their various vicissitudes, still serve in this 
historic church. 

Until 1882, the chimes gave warning of all fires. No 
American church, it is claimed, ever possessed a better 


[291] 


HISTORIC CHO RCIES 


set of chimes than St. Michael’s, which also prides itself 
on its many highly prized pieces of eucharistic silver 
and rare church plate, zealously and successfully con- 
cealed by the vestrymen during the country’s three great 
wats. 

Though suffering great damage in 1863 from bombs 
from United States batteries at Fort Morris; again in 
1885 by cyclone, and in 1886 by earthquake, all muti- 
lating the beautiful spire, St. Michael’s, restored, still 
stands an exceptionally beautiful Colonial church. 

Previous to the erection of St. Michael’s, its site was 
occupied by St. Philip’s Church, built about 1681, the 
site having been designated for it on the first plot of 
the town. It was in this church—the State Church 
until St. Michael’s was built—that the citizens wor- 
shipped until 1723, until then the only English church 
in the city. 





VERMONT AVENUE CHRISTIAN 
CHURGEH 


WASHINGTON, D. C. 


In this church, President Garfield worshipped. He 
was a member of the Christian Church, whose members 
are also known as ‘Disciples of Christ’’ or ‘“‘Campbel- 
lites,’ the denomination having been founded by 
Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell, his son, 
in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Its strong- 
est centers are in the Middle West. At Springfield, 
Mass., is ““The Little Church at the Cross,” an influen- 
tial New England Christian church. 


[292] 





ST. PAUL’S CHURCH, NORFOLK, VA. (See page 293) 

















Si PA TES 


NORFOLK, VA. 


St. Paul’s Church of Norfolk, Va., cruciform, with 
walls of glazed brick, dates from 1739. But ‘‘Norfolk 
Towne” had chapels and churches even earlier. “The 
records of 1637 show that one “John Wilson was min- 
ister of Elizabeth Reves Parish.’’ Long before the 
town was incorporated in 1705 (laid out 1682) its 
parish had been organized. 

On New Year’s Day, 1776, when the town was 
bombarded under Lord Dunmore and was laid in 
ashes, only one home and the walls of St. Paul’s were 
left. In the south wall of the church, restored in 1785, 
may be seen a twenty-four pound cannon-ball fired 
from the “‘Liverpool.’’ The churchyard shelters the 
remains of many patriots of both wars and original 
Huguenot settlers of Virginia and is considered one of 
the most beautiful cemeteries of the South. 

Pohick Church, in Truro Parish, organized by the 
Assembly in 1732, for which site was chosen in 1769, 
still stands, not far from Alexandria. George Wash- 
ington served on its building committee and later wor- 
shipped in its pews. 


[293] 


Sale RES 


WHITE HOUSE, VA. 


To St. Peter's, erected in 1703 by English settlers, 
belongs the coveted distinction of having been held in 
such high social and spiritual repute as to have been 
the church in which the marriage of George Washing- 
ton to Mrs. Martha Custis was solemnized in 1759. 

In architectural style it is similar to the old English 
parish churches,—the pulpit is high and above it the 
sounding board and beside it the inevitable hourglass. 
The communicants occupied family pews. After ser- 
vice the Virginians, always a social people, collected 
in groups and passed the time in friendly converse, 
while the negro servants brought the riding horses and 
the coaches to the door. 


[294] 





BRICK REFORMED CHURCH, GUILFORD COUNTY, N. C. (See page 295) 





BRICK REFORMED CHURCH 


GUILFORD COUNTY, N. C. 


Founded by George V and Ludwig Klapp (1748), 
this historic church, near the Alamance battleground 
of the Regulators and Tryon, was known for many 
years as the “‘Klapp Church,” later taking its name 
from the present brick structure. 

Here in 1831 was organized the Classis of North 
Carolina of the Reformed Church in the United States. 
In 1844, the pioneer prohibition sentiment of the State, 
centered about this church, led by its pastor, the Rev. 
G. W. Welker. 

Many soldiers of the Revolution who fought at 
Alamance.and at Guilford Court House, lie buried in 
the adjoining cemetery, and also William Montgom- 
ery, member of the twenty-eighth United States Con- 
gress, 


[295] 


























THE WORLD’S SMALLEST CHURCH. 


Near Latonia, Kentucky. Built of granite; has stained glass windows and 
seats only three worshippers. Built about sixty years ago by Monks. 





MODERN CATHEDRALS, CHAPELS 
AND CHURCHES 





SPP OUIS GATED RA 


NEW ORLEANS, LA. 


As royal patents provided for the erection of churches 
wherever settlements were made, it follows that in the 
plans of New Orleans specifications for Place d’ Armes 
included a site for the Cathedral. 

Other churches had preceded it. “The first regular 
services were held in 1699 at the Fort, by the chaplain 
accompanying D Iberville. An early Parish Church, 
said to have been known as St. Ignatius, built prob- 
ably between 1718-1722, was destroyed by the hurri- 
cane of 1722. “The new church, erected in its place, 
was burned to the ground in 1788. On the same site 
another edifice was constructed which was replaced by 
the present Cathedral, erected in 1850. 

St. Louis Cathedral, of irregular architecture exte- 
riorly, presents a rich, artistic and majestic interior. The 
beautifully frescoed ceiling bears, as its central picture, 
“The Transfiguration.’’ A semi-historic presentation 
of St. Louis and the First Crusaders appears behind and 
above the main altar. 

It was in this church that General, later President, 
Andrew Jackson, hero of New Orleans, worshipped 
after his great victory at Chalmette in 1815, and in his 
honor the Place d’Armes at that time became known 
as Jackson Square. The picturesque setting of this old 
Cathedral is suggested by the following appreciation: 


A still, sultry, dreamy atmosphere pervades the ro- 
mantic quarter of streets surrounding the Cathedral 
of St. Louis, which forms the hub of the city. Once 
in a while a cassocked priest steps from his transept 
door to a simple house opposite, reserved for the 


[299] 


HIS DORIC \CHURGHES 


clergy, whose frugal living room stands open to the 
street, disclosing to passersby its devotional pictures 
and anchorite furnishings. 

“The Hispanic Southwest,’ Pexiotto. 





CATHEDRAL OF ST. NICHOLAS 


NEW YORK CITY 


In this Russian Orthodox Church the first solemn 
mass celebrated in English was offered on the anniver- 
sary of Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12, 1924. This 
service was arranged as a tribute to Lincoln and to show 
the desire of the Russian ecclesiasts here to Americanize 
their church. 

The many visitors, who included a number of Epis- 
copal clergymen, sat, but those of Russian birth and 
descent stood, as is the custom in the churches of the 
Old World. The textbook used was the translation 
of the Slavonic ritual, which was first brought out in 
1906 by the Holy Russian Orthodox Synod and Czar 
Nicholas II. 

“This,’’ said a writer, “‘is the first step toward the 
Americanization of the Orthodox Church in the United 
States, where about two million communicants are liv- 
ing, who until now have been using in their churches 
the languages used in their former mother countries.”’ 

The Russian choir sang in English. The clergy wore 
brilliant cloth-of-gold vestments, and the Archbishop 
in addition wore a gold crown sparkling with stones. 
The Cathedral was redolent with incense. 


[300] 


(10¢ abvd aag) “HYLA ‘ALID ANV] LIVS ‘ATdWaL NOwYOYWy (662 ebod aay) “VT ‘SNYATYO MAN “IVUGAHLYD SINOT “LS 








MORMON TEMPLE 


SAC IPUAKE CLEY UTAH 


In ‘Temple Square, a ten acre tract near the center of 
Salt Lake City, stands the Mormon Temple, a massive, 
granite edifice sacred to the rites and ceremonies of the 
Latter Day Saints, and open to none but the members 
of that faith, and only to those in good standing. It 
was begun in 1853, two years after the organization 
of the city, and completed in 1893, at a cost of $4,000, - 
000. The granite was hauled by oxen from the Wasatch 
Mountains, twenty miles distant, and the timber from 
Cottonwood Canyon, also twenty miles away. At 
first the huge blocks of stone were carried on specially 
constructed carts, drawn by four yoke of oxen, but 
travel was so slow that it often required four days to 
transport one block. In 1873, a railway was built to 
the quarry, thus greatly expediting the work. The 
foundation walls of the Temple were laid less than six 
years after the pioneers arrived. 

In the Tabernacle, an adjacent one-story elliptical 
building (two hundred fifty feet long, one hundred 
fifty feet wide and eighty feet high) having a great 
arched dome unsupported except by the walls, is the 
famous pipe organ, the largest in the world. It was 
manufactured in 1867 by a home architect where it 
stands, under the supervision of an Englishman, Joseph 
H. Ridges. All the wood, metal and other materials 
used were brought from forests and mines in Utah. 
The case is polished pine of elegant simple design. The 
wood for the pipes was taken from Pine Valley, three 
hundred miles south of Salt Lake City, after experi- 


[301] 


AUS OR PC OrU Gri ras 


menting with specimens of wood from all over the 
State. [he organ is known to the musical world as 
one of the largest and most perfect in existence and the 
Tabernacle is famed for its organ recitals and chorus 
concerts, and acoustical perfection. 

The present Tabernacle occupies the site of an older 
‘Tabernacle built in 1851-1852, replacing ““The Bow- 
ery’ —a primitive structure of timbers and tree boughs, 
used for a temporary place of worship. 


JUDSON MEMORIAL 


NEW YORK CITY 


The Judson Memorial Baptist Church, believed to 
be the successor of the Berean Baptist Church (possibly 
incorporated 1835) was given its name in commemor- 
ation of the services of Adoniram Judson, pioneer mis- 
sionary to Berma, and his son Edward, both ministers 
of that denomination, and the latter the pastor of the 
earlier church in 1881. Stanford White (slain in 1906) 
at that time (1892) considered among the greatest 
American artists of church architecture, was the archi- 
tect. “[he tower, surmounted by a cross, illuminated 
at night, typified the ideals of the church for the sur- 
rounding neighborhood, as suggested by its motto, 
“The Church with the Lighted Cross.”’ 


[302] 








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DORKe Gite 


NEW 


THEDRALE, 


ST we ATRICK SiGA 





SP a URIG@Kh Se @ ASE EIR AT 


NEW YORK CITY 


Old St. Patrick’s, the cornerstone of which was laid 
in 1809, under the supervision of old St. Peter’s, on 
Barclay Street (established 1784), has a quaint refer- 
ence in its records to a.‘‘college, in a center spot, not of 
Long Island but of the Island of New York, the most 
delightful and healthy spot of the whole island, at a 
distance of but four small miles from the city and one 
half mile from the East and North rivers, both of which 
are seen from the house, set between two roads (which 
are very much frequented), opposite the Botanic Gar- 
dens, which belong to the State. It has adjacent to it 
beautiful lawns and a garden and orchard.”’ 

The romantic spot so pictured is now occupied by 
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on Fifth Avenue at Fiftieth 
Street. 

This spacious Cathedral of the New World, begun 
in 1858 and completed, except the spires, in 1879, is in 
the decorated Gothic style, prevailing in Europe from 
1275 to 1400. It simulates the Old World Cathe- 
drals (Rheims, Amiens and Cologne, Exeter, York 
Minster and Westminster), with which it compares 
favorably in beauty of material and design, purity of 
style, harmony of proportions, and finish of workman- 
ship. The exterior building material is, in the main, 
of white marble from the quarries of Westchester 
County, N. Y., and Lee, Mass. Its facade, richly dec- 
orated, carries twin towers with octagonal spires in two 
stories, rising to a height of three hundred thirty feet. 

The beautiful Lady Chapel is the gem of the new 


[303] 


HIS PORTCMGCHUR CHES 


Cathedral, the stained glass windows, for size, number, 
richness of coloring, variety and artistic beauty unsur- 
passed in America, were made in France near the Cathe- 
dral of Chartres, where it is universally admitted the 
most beautiful specimens of the thirteenth century 
painted glass is preserved. 

James Renwick (1819-1895), an pemeriea was 
the architect of St. Patrick’s. 


[304] 


(G0¢ abpd aag) ‘NOLSOG ‘LSLLNAIOS ‘LSIMHD JO HOUNHD LSUIY 





ay 





FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, 
SCIENTIST 


BOSTON 


“Erected Anno Domini, 1894’’ one reads on the 
pink granite tablet built into the circular wall of the 
tower of the “‘Mother Church” of Christian Science, in 
Boston, organized in 1879, and erected under the direc- 
tion of Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910). In June, 
1906, the temple extension of white granite and Bed- 
ford stone was dedicated. 

The architectural style of the Mother Church is 
Romanesque, the building material of New Hampshire 
granite. [he interior, the decoration of which is in 
exquisite harmony with this church’s symbolical inter- 
pretation of religion, is renowned for its beautiful win- 
dows, with color tones determining the color scheme 
of other interior decorations. Floor mosaics, fresco de- 
signs, marbles, and hangings carry out to the last detail 
the rich tones of the windows. Conspicuous for its 
rate beauty is the Rose Window memorializing ““The 
Raising of Jairus’ Daughter,’ the lower sections of 
palms and lamps signifying light, intelligence and vic- 
tory. Another Rose Window of marked beauty and 
significance is ““The New Jerusalem.’’ Other windows 
which win much admiration are, ““The Resurrection of 
Lazarus’ (a double window); “‘Isaiah,” “St. John 
on the Island of Patmos,’ and the “‘God-crowned 
Woman.” 

A distinct feature of the church is the Mother’s 
Room, at the entrance of which one reads, inlaid in 
colored stones in the landing before the door, ‘‘Mother’s 


[305] 


HISTORTCMGH URC Es 


Room, The Children’s Offering.’’ Above the door in 
letters of gold on a white marble tablet is the word, 
“Love.” ‘Testimonial windows of exquisite beauty in 
this room, sacred to childhood and mother love, are 
“Christ and Christmas,” ““The Star of Bethlehem,”’ 
and “Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me.’ An 
onyx beehive contains the twenty-eight hundred names 
of “Busy Bees,’ the band of children to whom the 
church owes the Mother’s Room. 

A large oil painting pictures the little black haircloth 
rocking chair in which the Founder sat while writing 
her celebrated works. A bookmark given to the 
“Mother's Room” by two little girls bears the senti- 
ment to which the room is dedicated: 


And so I find it well to come 

For deeper rest to this small room; 

For here the habit of the soul 

Feels less the outer world’s control; 

And from the Silence, multiplied 

By these still forms on every side, 

The world, that Time and Sense have known, 
Falls off, and leaves us God alone. 


—Whittier. 


[306] 


SE SJOHON WHE OILVINE 


NEW YORK CITY 


Among the great Cathedrals of New York is that of 
St. John the Divine representing, in its present unfin- 
ished condition, an outlay of several millions of dollars 
and fifty years of preparation and planning, the charter 
having been granted in 1873. 

‘The prevailing style is French-Gothic. The plans 
propose two towers 265 feet high and a central tower 
500 feet high. When completed, it is estimated that 
it will cost $20,000,000, taking its place among the 
great cathedrals of the world in vastness of dimensions 
and beauty of design. 

Notable works of art in the Cathedral are the Potter 
Memorial Pulpit of Knoxville marble, and the Eagle 
lectern of bronze, on the north side of the choir. This 
lectern is said to be a replica of an ancient one found in 
a lake near St. Alban’s Cathedral where it had been 
cast at the time of the destruction of that Cathedral 
during the Saxon invasion. 

The choir stalls, rising four tiers on either side of the 
chancel, are of carved American oak. ‘The canopies 
are copied from those in one of the chapels in West- 
minster Abbey. The finals of the stalls are figures of 
great musicians and composers of church music. The 
high altar is white Vermont marble, containing statues 
of Our Lord, seven feet high, of Moses and of St. John 
the Baptist. The great rectangular panel in the lower 
part of the reredos is filled with rare Spanish embroid- 
ery of Arabesque design two hundred years old. 


[307] 


HIS TORT CR GH ORIG RS 


The eight great columns of light gray Maine marble 
in a semi-circle around the sanctuary are among the 
marvels of the Cathedral, and are approached in size 
only by those of St. Isaac’s, in Leningrad. “The organ 
contains 7,000 pipes and chimes. Among the Cathe- 
dral’s treasures are twelve Barbaric tapestries, woven in 
the first half of the seventeenth century on the Papal 
looms, and purchased for $45,000. 


[308] 


POE aN AION AL CAITTIEMORAT 


WASHINGTON 


When Washington drafted the plans of the federal 
city, a large plot of land, centrally situated, was re- 
served for a national church “‘in due recognition of that 
God of Our Fathers, under whose fostering care the 
Republic was founded and has grown to its present 
commanding position among the sovereign States of 
the world.” 

The present completed apse, a fragment of the pro- 
posed Washington Cathedral, whose erection was be- 
gun in 1915, does not occupy this site, but one con- 
sidered more advantageous. It comprises some sixty 
acres of beautifully wooded land, lying picturesquely 
on the summit of Mt. St. Alban and overlooking the 
Potomac. 

When completed, the proposed Cathedral, in pure 
Gothic style, measuring some five hundred feet from 
the western front to the apse at the eastern end, will 
equal in length any English church except York Min- 
ster. The crowning glory will be the great central tower 
rising two hundred sixty-two feet and rivaling in height 
and beauty the lovely Angel Tower at Canterbury, 
which it will exceed by thirty-three feet. In the per- 
fection of its proportions and the purity of its style, it 
is believed the Washington Cathedral will stand with- 
out a peer. 

Bethlehem Chapel, of the National Cathedral of St. 
Peter and Paul, is built over the foundation stone of 
the Cathedral brought from the fields of Bethlehem, 
and bearing the inscription, ‘“The Word was made flesh 


[309] 


PUSS OALO ROS! Mri e UNG tM eS 


and dwelt amongst us.’”’ Inlaid in a piece of American 
granite, it was set in place in 1907 in the presence of 
President Roosevelt and 20,000 people. The beautiful 
stained-glass windows of the chapel, representing 
scenes in the life of Christ, came from England. 

In the crypt of this chapel lies the body of Woodrow 
Wilson, the “World War’ President of the United 
States. When the Cathedral is finished, his body will 
be placed in a permanent sarcophagus that will be pro- 
vided for it therein. 

In the temporary Baptistry is the Jordan font of 
white Carrara marble, carved with Biblical scenes and 
lined with stones from the Damascus ford of the River 
Jordan, where tradition holds, Christ was baptized. 

How the ground was chosen for this Cathedral 
makes an interesting story. Joseph Nourse, first Regis- 
trar of the Treasury, was the owner of a tract of land 
on part of which the Cathedral is being built. He was 
a friend of Washington and a Church-of-England 
man. He lived in a mansion on Mount St. Alban. 
Looking down from the heights of his home, he felt 
that it was the ideal home for a National Cathedral. It 
was his prayer that some day the country would build 
a shrine there. 

After his death his home was made a church school 
for boys. An upper room was used as a chapel. There 
on Sundays, the students and many of the people in the 
outlying districts, would gather for services. 

Phoebe Nourse, granddaughter of Joseph Nourse, 
attended regularly until her health failed. While con- 
fined to her room, she spent her time doing fancy work, 
which she sold. Nobody knew why she did it, or what 
she did with the proceeds of the handiwork. It was 


[310] 


eC ONIIMAOU HG, (Cae UN aL Cd se Baie 


thought to be the whim of a suffering lady, and there- 
fore humored. 

In 1848, Phoebe Nourse died. Among her effects 
was found a small box, which upon being opened laid 
bare forty gold dollars. A note accompanying the 
money read, “For a Free Church on Alban Hill.”’ The 
sincerity of this offering touched many of her friends, 
and, with the forty dollars as a nucleus, enough was 
collected to build a small, free church on Alban Hill. 
That little church still stands, the mother church of the 
Cathedral. 


[311] 


WEST POINT AND ANNAPOLIS 


Although not yet old enough to become famous or 
classed as historic, the United States furnishes for its 
future Generals and Admirals church buildings that 
are richly significant as well as architecturally dignified 
and beautiful, and well worthy to be included among 
the important church edifices of the world. 

On the hills overlooking the Hudson river which 
its guns command, upon ground held sacred for its 
Revolutionary associations, stand the group of build- 
ings where future officers of the Army are trained and 
developed, known as the United States Military 
Academy, or popularly, West Point. Few, if any, in- 
stitutions of the kind in the world equal it, and none 
surpass it; and one of the most important and beautiful 
of the buildings is the Cadet Chapel. 

The architects, Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, de- 
signed a structure modern Gothic in style and military 
in appearance. Construction was begun August 25, 
1908 and completed April 30, 1910. It was conse- 
crated June 12 of the latter year. Its exact cost, includ- 
ing furnishings and the Chaplain’s quarters was $487,- 
392.12. From the entrance to the Altar, it is 210 feet 
long; the nave is 60 feet wide and the transept 87 feet. 
It is 56 feet high inside. “The seating capacity, includ- 
ing the choir is 1,500. 

With the exception of the two large windows at 
either end of the Chapel all windows are memorials of 
the various classes that have gone before. The large 
stained-glass sanctuary window, a memorial to de- 
parted graduates and the gift of the Alumni Associa- 


[312] 


HIS DORRGUMCHURCHES 


tion, represents the Genius and Spirit of West Point, 
symbolized by the heroes of the Bible, every one of the 
many sections having its individual significance in har- 
mony with the central thought the whole typifies. 

The large window over the entrance was installed in 
January, 1923, as a memorial to members of the 
Alumni who died in the World War. This window, 
as a whole, is based on St. John’s Revelation, vouch- 
safed him on the Isle of Patmos for the comfort of the 
early Christians in the midst of persecution and war. 
The central theme is the victory of Christ over sin and 
death. “‘As the vision of St. John revealed to the 
Apostle many mysteries of the millennium in all its ra- 
diant glory,” says an anonymous writer, “‘so this 
Apocalypse in glass impresses one at first as a jewel of 
glory and light.’’ Close study of the window reveals 
the many subordinate visions that make up the entire 
revelation. 

One of the features of the West Point Chapel is its 
organ, installed in 1911. While paid for as it stood 
originally by funds appropriated by Congress, dona- 
tions and memorials have trebled its size. It now con- 
tains 102 separate ranks of pipes, totaling 6,874, with 
174 stops. There are really seven different organs, each 
having its part to play. The mechanical equipment 
includes five electric motors aggregating 21 h. p. The 
pipes range from those smaller than a lead pencil to one 
thirty-two feet long and eighteen by twenty-one inches 
in diameter weighing half a ton. The organ is as large 
as a three-story house. The console, one of the largest 
in the world, has four manuals of sixty-one keys each, 
with 287 stop keys, 135 manual accessories, 32 pedal 
keys and 49 pedal accessories. 


[313] 


HESIO Rib a Oh RO nt Es 


The choir composed of 155 cadets, is the largest 
male choir in the country. “The chimes in the tower 
were presented in 1919 by Mrs. James M. Lawton as 
a memorial to her father, General Robert Anderson, 
who commanded at Fort Sumter, the attack upon 
which marked the opening of the Civil War. 

Under the chapel is the crypt, the door to which is 
of hammered copper into which has been wrought a 
shattered hour glass and a broken sword. Along the 
walls are twelve recesses for the illustrious dead. 

The banners in the chapel are regimental standards 
figuring in all our wars since and including that with 
Mexico. 

Over the entrance is a great two-handed sword 
buried in a cross. As that of King Arthur, “Excali- 
bur,”’ could be drawn from the stone into which it had 
been plunged only by one destined to be a king, so this 
symbolizes that it may be drawn only in the defence 
of the things the cross represents, the ideal qualifica- 
tions for a King. 

As it is with the school for soldiers at West Point, so 
it is with the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Mary- 
land. ‘This institution, too, has been rebuilt and mod- 
ernized and made of world-challenging beauty and ef- 
fectiveness. More showy, yet richly dignified is the 
golden-domed marble chapel, with its ornate bronze 
doors, through which the Middies march to worship. 
Guns captured by the Navy in the Mexican war guard 
its entrance, and inside are three stained glass windows, 
memorials to Admirals Farragut and Porter, of Civil 
War fame, and Sampson, who commanded the Ameri- 
can fleet off Santiago during the War with Spain. 

But chief interest in the chapel lies in the fact that it 
is the tomb of our first Admiral, John Paul Jones. The 


[314] 


HTS TOR mG rR CHES 


great sea fighter died in Paris and was buried there, but 
both place and cemetery were forgotten until a century 
had passed, when through the efforts of the American 
Ambassador, General Horace Porter, the body was 
found, identified, and removed to the United States. 
When this chapel was built an imposing mausoleum 
was provided in the crypt for the body, and there it 
was placed, it is hoped, for all time, a symbol of 
victory accomplished, an inspiration to the sturdy 
American lads who are following in the profession he 
so splendidly graced. 


[315] 





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[319] 





INDEX 


Abbey Church, Mont St. Michael, France, 65 
Aix-la-Chapelle, France, 72 

Alamo, The, Texas, 166 

Amiens Cathedral, France, 109 

Apostles, Church of the, Cologne, Germany, 84 
Art Treasures in Notre Dame, Antwerp, 145 
Augustus Lutheran Church, Trappe, Pa., 259 


Baptist Temple, Philadelphia, 261 
Beauvais Cathedral, France, 106 
Belen Church, Havana, 164 
Bells: Ancient Bell, St. Pierre, Geneva, 100 
Angel Tower, Canterbury Cathedral, 56 
Belfry of Bruges, 146 
Campanile, Florence, Italy, 64 
Campanile, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, 
64 
Christ church, Oxford, England, 94 
Christ Church, Philadelphia, 250 
Dunstan Bell, Canterbury Cathedral, 56 
First Baptist Church, Providence, R. I., 206 
Golden Pagoda, Rangoon, 9, 10 
Great Paul, Westminster Abbey, London, 67 
Great Peter, Exeter Cathedral, England, 127 
Great Peter, York Minster, England, 126 
Great Tom, Lincoln Cathedral, England, 94 
Kaiser-Glocke, Cologne, 84 
Liberty Bell, Philadelphia, 251 
Malines, Belgium, 146 
Metropolitan Church, Toronto, Canada, 146 
Oldest Belfry and Bell in Colonies, 199 
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cast 1350, 173 
Santa Maria del Fiore, Bell Tower, 64 
Santa Maria Guadalupe, Mexico City, 160 
St. Joseph’s, St. Augustine, 181 
St. Michael’s, Charleston, S. C., 291 
St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, New York 
City, 218 
St. Patrick’s, Dublin, 136 
St. Peter’s Church, Morristown, N. J., 146 
St. Stephen’s, Vienna, 149 
Bethlehem Chapel, National Cathedral, Wash- 
ington, D. C., 309 
Bibliography, 317 
Bishops of Canterbury, 57 
Black Stone, The, Mecca, 37 
Blanford Church, Blanford, Va., 288 
Bones of Ste. Anne, The, Quebec, 176 
Brick Church, Boston, 193 
Brick Reformed Church, Guilford County, N. 
Sy RE 
Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, Va., 287 
Burgos Cathedral, Spain, 143 


Cathedrals: Amiens, France, 109 
Antwerp, Belgium, 145 
Ascension de Maria Sanctissima, 
City, 159 
Ascension, Moscow, 126 


Mexico 


Assumption, Moscow, 142 

Beauvais, France, 106 

Burgos, Spain, 143 

Canterbury, England, 54 

Chartres, France, 105 

Cologne, Germany, 83 

Columbus Cathedral, Havana, Cuba, 162 

Como, Rome, 82 

Durham, England, 95 

Ely, England, 118 

Exeter, England, 127 

Glasgow, Scotland, 133 

Gloucester, England, 89 

Grenada, Spain, 91 

Holy Trinity, Quebec, Canada, 164 

Lichfield, England, 150 

Lincoln, England, 92 

Malines, Belgium, 146 

Milan, Italy, 97 

Monreale, Sicily, 29 

Murano, Italy, 119 

Naples, Italy, 53 

National Cathedral, Washington, D. C., 309 

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico, 179 

Oxford, England, 113 

Peterborough, England, 120 

Pisa, Italy, 101 

Ratisbon, Germany, 85 

Rheims, France, 107 

Rouen, France, 141 

St. Etheldreda and St. Peter, Ely, England, 
118 

San Fernando, San Antonio, Texas, 167 

St. John the Divine, New York City, 307 

St. Joseph, St. Augustine, Fla., 181 

St. Michael the Archangel, Moscow, 126 

St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, La., 299 

St. Nicholas, New York City, 300 

St. Patrick’s, New York City, 303 

St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew, Peter- 
borough, England, 120 

St. Peter’s, Rome, 30 

St. Rombold, Malines, Belgium, 146 

St. Stephen’s, Vienna, 148 

Salisbury, England, 69 

Seville, Spain, 77 

Siena, Italy, 62 

Strassburg, Germany, 111 

Toledo, Spain, 103 

Tours, France, 68 

Trondhjem, Norway, 137 

Vasali, Moscow, 85 

Venice, Italy, 52 

Verona, Italy, 123 

Wells, England, 152 

Winchester, Hampshire, England, 116 

Worms, Germany, 84 

Chapel of Edward the Confessor, Westminster 

Abbey, 59 


[321] 


INDEX 








Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey, 59 

Chapel at U. S. Military Academy, West 
Pome New kenoue 

Chapel at U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, 
Md., 314 

Chapel of St. Helena, The, Jerusalem, 28 

Chapels of St. Peter and St. Paul, Tower of 
London, 147 

Charlemagne’s Royal Tomb Church, Aix-la- 
Chapelle, 31, 72 

Chartres Cathedral, France, 105 

Chester Church, New Haven, Conn., 212 

Christ Church, Alexandria, Va., 289 

Christ Church, Bennington, Vt., 215 

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, 136 

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, England, 113 

Christ Church, Philadelphia, 249 

Christ Church, Philadelphia, Burial Ground, 
250 

Christ Church, Shrewsbury, N. J., 232 

“Church in the Fort,’” New York City, 216 

Church in which Washington married, 294 

Church of the Brethren, Germantown, Pa., 228 

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 27 

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, 25 

Church of the Pilgrimage, Plymouth, 189 

“Church of the Town Meetings,’’ The, Boston, 
195 

Clock, Antwerp Cathedral, 145 

Clock, Exeter Cathedral, England, 127 

Clock, Strassburg Cathedral, 112 

Collegiate Church (Dutch Reformed), New 
York City, 216 

Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, New York 
City, 218 

Collegiate Church of St. Peter, London, 58 

Cologne Cathedral, Germany, 83 

Colonial Churches, 185 

Como Cathedral, Rome, 82 

Concepcion la Purisima de Acuma, San An- 
tonio, Texas, 165 

Concord’s Old Meeting House, Mass., 215 

Congregation Michveh Israel, Philadelphia, 257 

Constantine’s Church, Jerusalem, 27 

Conwell, Rev. Russell H., D.D., 261 

Coronation Chair, Westminster Abbey, 59 

Court Church of Colonial Virginia, 287 


Early Christian or Basilican Churches, 21 
Eddy, Mrs. Mary Baker, 305 

Edict of Theodosius, 17 

Ely Cathedral, England, 118 

Emerald Buddha, Bangkok, 10 

Escorial Church, The, Madrid, Spain, 76 
Exeter Cathedral, England, 127 


Famous Wat Phra Kao, or Royal Temple for 
the Emerald Buddha, 10 

First Acceptance of Unitarian Faith in United 
States, 203 

First Baptist Church, Providence, R. I., 205 

First Church, Boston, 192, 200 

First Church, Hartford, Conn., 204 

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, 305 

First Congregational Church, Salem, Mass., 214 

First Dutch Reformed Church, Fishkill, N. Y., 
219 


First Dutch Reformed Church, Flatbush, L. I., 
270 

First Huguenot Church, New York City, 271 

First Mennonite Church in America, German- 
town, Pa., 228 

First Methodist Preaching House in America, 
yap | 

First Protestant Church in America, James- 
town, Va., 187 

First Protestant Episcopal 
England, 202 : 

First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, N. J., 
254 

First Presbyterian Church, Newark, N. J., 273 

First Presbyterian Church, New York City, 
229 

First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, 279 

First Reformed Church, Philadelphia, 255 

First Reformed Church, Tarrytown, N. Y., 237 

First sermon preached in America, 189 

First Thanksgiving in New England, 191 

Foreword, v 

Franciscan Church of Santa Croce, Florence, 57 

Franklin’s Grave, Philadelphia, 250 

Friends’ Meeting House, Haverford, Pa., 246 

Friends’ Meeting House, Merion, Pa., 246 

Friends’ Meeting House, Philadelphia, 275 


Church in New 


Glasgow Cathedral, Scotland, 133 

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Church, Philadelphia, 
242 

Glastonbury Clock, 123 

Gloucester Cathedral, England, 89 

Golden Pagoda, Rangoon, 9 

Golgotha Chapel, Jerusalem, 28 

Grace Baptist Church, Philadelphia, 261 

Grace Church, New York City, 225 

Grave of Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, 250 

Great Mosque, The, Mecca, 37 

Greek Temple of Diana, 16 

Grenada Cathedral, Spain, 91 

“Grotto of the Nativity,’’ Bethlehem, 25 


Havana, Cuba, Columbus Cathedral, 162 

Haverford, Pa., Friends’ Meeting House, 246 

Hebron Lutheran Church, Madison Co., Va., 
290 

Herod’s Temple, 8 

Holy Apostles Church, Constantinople, 51 

Holyrood Chapel, Edinburgh, 102 

Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 27 

Holy Trinity Church, Wilmington, Del., 239 

Home Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, N. C., 
268 


Images of Buddha, 9 
Independent Presbyterian Church, Savannah, 
Ga., 288 


Jerusalem Church, Bruges, 100 

Jesuits, Church of the, Cologne, Germany, 84 

“Jewel Box of Constantinople,’’ The, 46 

John Eliot’s Bible, Indian Language, 201 

John Street Methodist Church, New York 
City, 231 

Judson Memorial Baptist Church, New York 
City, 302 


[322] 


INDEX 








Justinian’s Church, Constantinople, 45 


Kaaba, The, Mecca, 37 
King’s Chapel, Boston, 202 
Koran, The, 41 


La Merced 
163 

Lateran Palace, The, Rome, 29 

Largest Church in the world, St. Peter’s Rome, 
80 

Leaning Tower of Pisa, 101 

Lichfield Cathedral, England, 150 

Lincoln Cathedral, England, 92 

“Little Church Around the Corner,’’ The, New 
York City, 226 

“Little Church at the Cross,’’ The, Spring- 
field, Mass., 292 

“Little Church of England,’’ The, 199 

Little Dover Meeting House, Dover, N. H., 
214 

Llandaff Cathedral, Wales, 152 

Lorna Doone’s Church, Devonshire, England, 
121 


“Our Lady of Mercy,’’ Havana, 


Madeleine, Church of the Paris, 153 
Malines Cathedral, Belgium, 146 
Marble Collegiate Church, New York City, 
PE 
Mother Church in America, Dunkards, German- 
town, Pa., 228 
Marseillaise Hymn of the Republic, 87 
Martin Luther’s Church (Schloss-Kirche) Wit- 
tenberg, Germany, 86 
Mayflower Pilgrims, The, 189 
Medieval Cathedrals, 49 
Meeting House of First Presbyterian Society, 
1756, Newburyport, Mass., 211 
Meeting House-on-the-Green, Lexington, Mass., 
209 
Melrose Abbey, Scotland, 131 
Merion, Pa., Friends’ Meeting House, 246 
Mexico City Cathedral, 159 
Milan Cathedral, Milan, Italy, 97 
Mission of the Concepcion, San Antonio, 
Texas, 165 
Mission Dolores, San Francisco, Calif., 183 
Mission of San Xavier Del Bac, Arizona, 182 
Monastery of Mar Saba, near Jerusalem, 34 
Monreale Cathedral, near Palermo, Sicily, 29, 
94 
Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pa., 267 
Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah, 301 
Moscow Cathedrals: 
St. Michael the Archangel, 126 
Ascention, 126 
Assumption, 142 
Mosques, Temples of Mahomet, 35 
Amru, Cairo, 44 
Cordova, Spain, 41 
Damascus, 44 
Ispahan, Persia, 44 
Kait-Bey, Egypt, 44 
Machpelah, Hebron, 44 
Omar, The, Jerusalem, 39 
Sultan Hassan, Cairo, 42 
Sultan Mahomet II, 51 


“Mother Church’’ of Christian Sceince, 305 

“Mother Church of England,’’ 54 

Mother Congregation of Moravian Church in 
America, 267 

Murano Cathedral, Italy, 119 


Naples Cathedral, 53 

Nativity, Church of the, Bethlehem, 25 

National Cathedral, Washington, 309 

Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis, Md., 314 

New England Sabbath Day, 191 

New South Church, Boston, 197 

Notre Dame, Antwerp, 145 

Notre Dame, Paris, 73 

Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, 
Mexico, 179 


Church of, 


Old Dutch Sleepy Hollow Church, Tarry- 
town, N. Y., 236 

Old Dutch Reformed Church, Bellville, N. J., 
274 

Old Franciscan Missions of California, 168 

“Old Jerusalem,’’ Portland, Me., 213 

Old Meeting House, Concord, Mass., 215 

Old Mission Church, Mackinac Island, Mich- 
igan, 180 

Old Mission Grapevine, California, 170 

Old North Church, Boston, 192 

Old North Church, Portsmouth, N. H., 208 

Old St. Patrick’s, New York City, 303 

Old St. Peter’s, Rome, 30 

Old St. Peter’s, Philadelphia, 277 

Old Sarum, Diocese of, London, 69 

“Old Ship’’ Church, Hingham, Mass., 198 

Old South Church, Boston, 195 

Old South Church, Newburyport, Mass., 211 

“Old Swedes’’ Church, Philadelphia, 242 

“Old Swedes’’ Church, Wilmington, Del., 238 

Old Tennent Church, Monmouth Battlefield, 
No 233 

Oldest Baptist Church in Pennsylvania, 276 

Oldest Church in the United States, 173 

Oldest English-speaking Church in New Jersey, 
254 

Oldest German Lutheran 
United States, 245 

Oidest Lutheran Church in America, 259 

Oldest Meeting House in United States, 199 

Oldest Methodist Church in the World, Phila- 
delphia, 252 

Oldest Regular Hebrew Congregation in 
United States, 269 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral, Mexico, 179 

Oxford Cathedral, Oxford, England, 113 


Congregation in 


Pantheon, The, Paris, 117 

Pantheon, The, Rome, 18 

Parthenon, The, Athens, 14 

Paul Revere, Boston, 194 

Peking, Ancient Tartar City, 11 

Penn’s ‘‘Holy Experiment,’’ 247 

Pennypack Church, Pennypack, Pa., 276 

Peterborough Cathedral, England, 120 

Philadelphia’s First House of Christian Wor- 
ship, 242 

Pigeons of St. Mark’s, Venice, 53 


[323] 


INDEX 








Pisa Cathedral, Baptistry and Leaning Tower, 
101 

Plymouth Pilgrim Meeting House, Site of, 190 

Pohick Church, near Alexandria, Va., 293 

Pre-Christian Temples and Shrines, 3 


Quakers in Pennsylvania, 247 

Quaker Meeting House, Flushing, L. I., 266 
Quebec Cathedral, Canada, 164 

“Queen of French Cathedrals,’’ 73 
Queen’s Chapel, Portsmouth, N. H., 207 
Quincy Church, Quincy, Mass., 213 


Ratisbon Cathedral, Germany, 85 

Rheims Cathedral, France, 107 

Roman Basilica, 21 

Roger Williams Settlement at Providence, 205 

Rosario Chapel, Santa Fe, N. M., 164 

Rouen Cathedral, France, 141 

Russian Orthodox Church, New York City, 
300 

Russian Orthodox Church, Sitka, Alaska, 177 


Sabbath Day in New England, 191 

Sacred Tablet of Confucius, 11 

St. Alban’s, England, 114 

St. Andrew’s, Richmond, Staten Island, N. Y., 
230 

St. Anne de Beaupre, Quebec, 175 

St. Apollinare Nuova, Ravenna, 32 

St. Basil, Church of, Moscow, 126 

St. Chapelle, Paris, 144 

St. Charles, Vienna, 79 

St. Clements, Rome, 31 

St. David’s Cathedral, Wales, 151 

St. David's, Radnor, Pa., 285 

St. Genevieve, Paris, 117 

St. George’s Methodist Church, Philadelphia, 
pissy) 

St. Gervais, Geneva, Switzerland, 99 

St. Gudule’s, Brussels, 115 

St. Helena, The Chapel of, Bethlehem, 28 

St. Isaac’s, Leningrad, Russia, 140 

St. Jacques’ Chapel, Antwerp, 145 

St. John the Divine, Cathedral of, New York 
City, 307 

St. John’s, Hampton, Va., 290 

St. John Lateran, Rome, 29 

St. John’s, Portsmouth, N. H., 207 

St. Joseph’s, St. Augustine, Fla., 181 

St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, La., 299 

St. Luke’s, Smithfield, Va., 290 

St. Maria dei Cappuccini, Rome, 82 

St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery, New York City, 
255 

St. Mark’s, Venice, 51 

St. Martin’s at Canterbury, 55 

St. Martin’s Hill, Church of, England, 54 

St. Mary and St. Donato, Murano, Italy, 119 

St. Michael’s, Charleston, S. C., 291 

St. Michael Evangelical Church, Philadelphia, 
2UZ 

St. Michael’s, Marblehead, Mass., 197 

St. Oven, Rouen, France, 141 

St. Patrick’s, Dublin, 135 

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City, 303 

St. Paul’s, London, 66 

St. Paul’s, New York City, 223 


St. Paul’s, Norfolk, Va., 293 

St. Paul-Without-the-Walls, Rome, 33 

St Peter’s, Albany, N. Y., 224 

St. Peter Collegiate Church of London, 58 

St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew, Cathedral 
of, Peterborough, Eng., 120 

St. Peter’s, Philadelphia, 277 

St. Peter’s, Rome, 29, 30, 80 

St. Peter’s, White House, Va., 294 

St. Philip’s, Charleston, S. C., 292 

St. Pierre, Geneva, Switzerland, 99 

St. Roch’s, Paris, 104 

St. Simeon Stylites, Kelat-Seman, 28 

St. Sophia, Constantinople, 45 

St. Sophia, Green Jasper Columns, 17 

St. Stefano Rotondo, Rome, 30 

St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, 148 

St. Thomas, Salisbury, England, 71 

St. Ursula, Cologne, Germany, 84 

St. Vitale, Ravenna, 31 

San Ambrogio, Milan, 149 

San Augustin, Oldest Church in Havana, Cuba, 
163 

San Carlos Borremo, Monterey, Calif., 169 

San Francisco de Assis Solano, Mission, 183 

San Gabriel Mission, Calif., 170 

San Jose de Aguayo, near San Antonio, Texas, 
166 

San Juan Capistrano Mission, 172 

San Luis Rey de Francia Mission, Calif., 171 

San Marco Chapel, Venice, 51 

San Miguel, Santa Fe, N. M., 173 

San Miniato, Florence, Italy, 108 

San Xavier del Bac, Arizona, 182 

Santa Barbara Mission, Calif., 171 

Santa Clara Mission, Calif., 172 

Santa Croce, Florence, 139 

Santa Inez Mission, Calif., 172 

Santa Maria de Belen, Havana, 164 

Santa Maria della Pace, Rome, 82 

Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, 88 

Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy, 63 

Santa Maria Formosa, Venice, 130 

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 26 

Santa Maria Novello, Florence, 57 

Santo Domingo, Havana, 163 

Salisbury Cathedral, England, 69 

Sanctuary of Shinto, Japan, 13 

Saviour, Church of the, Moscow, 85 

Schloss-Kirche, Wittenberg, Germany, 86 

Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, 280 

Seville Cathedral, Spain, 77 

Sheareth Israel (Remnant 
York City, 269 

Siena Cathedral, Italy, 62 

Site of Tomb of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 
traditional, 44 

“Sleepy Hollow Church,"’ Tarrytown, N. Y., 
236 

Solomon's Temple, Jerusalem, 7 

Stadt-Kircke, Wittenberg, Germany, 86 

Stone of Scone, Westminster Abbey, 59 

Stone of Unction, The, Jerusalem, 28 

Strassburg Cathedral, 111 

Swamp Church, New Hanover, Pa., 245 


of Israel), New 


Tabernacle, The, Salt Lake City, Utah, 301 


[324] 


INDEX 








Tabor Church (First Reformed), Lebanon, Pa., 
284 
Tell’s Chapel, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, 128 
Teocalli, The, Guatusco, Costa Rica, 167 
Temple of Athena at Athens, 14 
Temple of Diana, Ephesus, 16 
Temple Emanu-El, New York City, 270 
Temple of Edfu, Egypt, 5 
Temple of Heaven, The, Peking, 11 
Temple of Jupiter, Erected by Agrippa, 18 
Temples of Nikko, Japan, 13 
Temple University, Philadelphia, 264 
Toledo Cathedral, Spain, 103 
Tombs and Monuments in Westminster Abbey, 
60 
Tombs of: Admiral John Paul Jones, Chapel, 
Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., 314 
Christopher Columbus, Seville, Spain, 78 
Gen. ‘‘Mad’’ Anthony Wayne, 286 
Michael Angelo and Galileo, 139 
Raphael, the Painter, 19 
Rubens, in Antwerp, 145 
Sts. Ambrogio, Gervasio and Protasio, 149 
St. Mark, Patron Saint of Venice, 51 
St. Olaf, Norway’s Patron Saint, 137 
Former President Woodrow Wilson, 310 
Tombs in: Durham Cathedral, England, 96 
Old St. Peter's, Philadelphia, 277 
Peterborough Cathedral, England, 121 
St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Eng- 
land, 130 
St. Peter’s Chapel, Tower of London, 147 
St. Patrick’s, Dublin, 135 
St. Paul’s, London, 67 
Winchester Cathedral, England, 116 
Tours Cathedral, France, 68 


Tower of London, Chapels, 147 

Translation of Bible into Indian Language, 200 
Trinity Church, Boston, 210 

Trinity Church, Fishkill, N. Y., 219 
Trinity Church, New York City, 220 
Trondhjem Cathedral, Norway, 137 


United Church, New Haven, Conn., 201 


Vasali Cathedral, Moscow, 85 

Venice Cathedral, Italy, 52 

Verona Cathedral, Italy, 123 

Vermont Avenue Christian Church, Washing- 
ton, D; C., 292 

“Vinegar Bibles, The,’’ 207 

Votive Church, The, Vienna, 79 


Wall Street Church, New ,York City, 230 

Washington in St. Paul’s, New York City, on 
his first Inauguration Day, 223 

Wells Cathedral, England, 122 

Westminster Abbey, London, 58 

West Point Chapel, West Point, N. Y., 312 

Where Andrew Jackson Worshipped, 299 

Whittier, Quaker Poet, 248 

William Penn, where he preached, 246 

Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England, 116 

Worms Cathedral, Germany, 84 


York Minster, England, 124 


Zerubbabel’s Temple, 8 

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadel- 
phia, 281 

Zion Reformed Church, Allentown, Pa., 283 


[325] 


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